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Ragsdale boys soccer coach Brien Braswell thinks he's figured out the three things that could carry his team this postseason.

"Errorless defense," he said. "Praying. And a good bit of luck."

With a little bit of all three, the Tigers notched one of the state's biggest upsets in the opening round of the NCHSAA playoffs on Tuesday, prevailing 1-0 in penalty kicks to slay West Forsyth, which had been 17-2-1 and ranked fourth in the state 4-A poll."

They were real excited," Braswell said. "They carried out the game plan well, which they're seeing is what they have to do to win."

That meant somehow bottling up a Forsyth offense that had outscored opponents 57-16 on the year. But the Tigers kept things scoreless through four overtimes to set up penalty kick heroics from Ryan Wall and Briggs Kennington, who scored, and sophomore goalkeeper Brad Davis, who made three miraculous saves to close it out before Ragsdale's final shot.

"It was unbelievable," Braswell said. "He made some saves in regulation too, which he'll have to do for us to progress."

It was a remarkable statement for a young team that had to claw the final week of the season just to finish above .500 (11-10-2) and make the playoffs. And they did it Tuesday without their leading scorer and playmaker, German exchange student Arnie Unterhalt, who returned to Europe this week on vacation.

"It's fun to get something out of the season," Braswell said.

Ragsdale now gets Grimsley on Saturday after the Whirlies dispatched East Forsyth 3-0 on Wednesday. East had beaten Ragsdale 5-1 and 3-0 during the regular season, and the Whirlies, now riding a seven-game winning streak, also took down the Tigers 1-0 early in the season."It doesn't look good for us," Braswell said. "But neither did it last night."

TO BEAT THE BEST ... : Grimsley's girls tennis team has a shot for glory this afternoon when it hosts defending state champion Charlotte Myers Park in the 4-A state semifinals.

The Whirlies (15-0) overtook perennial conference power Page to win the Metro 4-A this season, and they advanced on Tuesday by beating the Pirates again 5-1 behind singles victories from Majdou Lavoie, Nikki Curnes, Lauren Tuscano, Carli Tuscano and Rachel Cox. Six Whirlies qualified for last weekend's individual state championships.

Page knocked Grimsley out 5-4 in the same round last season, then fell in the following round to Myers Park, which would go on to finish undefeated and carries a 35-match win streak into today's match.

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7034 or tom.keller@news-record.com