A Perfect 10

Foley highlights Alcoa defense yet to yield postseason goal

Alcoa junior Halle Foley battles for possession with a Polk County midfielder during Saturday’s sectional championship match. The Lady Tornadoes make their state tournament debut this afternoon in Murfreesboro. Photos by Jolanda Jansma.

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

The No. 10 shirt in soccer is one of the most revered jersey assignments in all sport.

Pele, Maradona, Messi, Wayne Rooney, it’s no accident the best players in the sport’s history all wore the number.

The Argentine Maradona so popularized No. 10 he was called “a savior to his country.”

No. 10 is almost always assigned to a team’s top scorer or playmaker. Defenders never get the number. Ever. Attend 100 matches, you may see it once.

That’s the first thing that drew us to Alcoa’s Halle Foley during Saturday’s 5-0, history-making sectional win over Polk County. Then we settled in to watch the Lady Tornado junior play.