Lucas Nordin hat trick sets Bearden soccer scoring record in state quarterfinals win

MURFREESBORO — Lucas Nordin knew that he would likely set Bearden soccer's scoring record at some point during the TSSAA state tournament, but he was focused more on winning a state championship.

Nordin entered this year's Class 3A state tournament tied with Gabe Alvarez, who put in 33 goals in 2016.

With a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Franklin (10-5-3) on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals, Nordin now has the mark to himself.

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"It's really exciting," Nordin said. "Coming into the state tournament, I didn't really care about the record anymore because I just want to bring home a state title. If we were ever going to compete and potentially win state, that the record would come with it."

Bearden (20-1-3) plays Oakland (19-2-2) on Wednesday night for a spot in the championship game.

Nordin missed a majority of his sophomore season after multiple hamstring strains and didn't return until the postseason. Coming back so late, Nordin said he never really felt like himself and just marked the year as a throwaway season knowing that the future would be better.

"He's just now really hitting his stride after going through that last year," Bearden coach Ryan Radcliffe said. "I don't know if there's another gear there for him because he has battled through a lot of injuries in the past year so he's really honing in on the talent he could be. It was cool to see him break the record because I told him it would be special to break it at state.

"He told me he was more focused on a ring. He epitomizes what I like to preach as a coach."

Yet setting the record took some time.

The two sides played a scoreless game for a majority of the first half before Nordin finally struck. Cooper Cross fed a through-ball to Nordin, who beat the keeper and a defender waiting in the goal who tried to deflect the ball out.

Nordin added two more goals within the first 16 minutes of the second half. He took advantage of a penalty kick with 24 minutes remaining after he had added to his highlight reel just a few minutes prior.

One-on-one with a Franklin defender, Nordin crossed the ball over, got some space and fired a shot past the outstretched arms of the Admirals' keeper into the upper right-hand corner of the net.

"I've maybe had two or three goals this season just like that so it comes down to reps," Nordin said. "As a winger/striker, your job is to put the ball in the back of the net. Being able to do it like that though, it's pretty exciting to watch."

Reach Joe Spears at jspears2@gannett.com or 731-343-4923. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter @joe_spears7.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: TSSAA soccer: Lucas Nordin becomes Bearden's all-time leading scorer