Coming off their first ever trip to the TSSAA State Tournament last year, Shelbyville Central’s Golden Eagle soccer teams has high expirations this season as well.
The Eagles opened the season on Thursday night with 2-2 tie with Columbia Central.
“Columbia is a great rival who plays in the toughest region in the state. They are well-coached and extremely physical,” Shelbyville Central coach Chris Fritz said. 
The Lions scored early off of a massive throw-in early in the first half to go up 1-0.
“They kept the pressure on us for the first twenty minutes until we made some adjustments,” Fritz said.
Shortly before the half, Emmanuel Leyva found the back of the net for the goal to even the score at one-all.
Leyva added his second hole right after the half for the 2-1 advantage.
 Columbia Central scored with 21 seconds left in the game off of another long throw-in to end the game in a tie.
“This current group of guys has a ton of potential, but we have to learn to play from whistle to whistle with the same energy,” Fritz said. “Our sophomores put on another strong showing tonight as five of them played significant game changing minutes.