The Greeneville soccer team picked up an important non-conference win on Thursday night as the Greene Devils defeated Jefferson County 5-1.
“It’s a tremendous win. For our coaching staff we couldn’t be more happy for our boys. This is what they’ve worked so hard for this week. They’ve really upped the intensity and focus this week in practice and they were the ones who were determined to bring this to the field tonight,” Greene Devils head coach Jerry Graham said.
The Greene Devils wasted little time capitalizing on offense and were relentless on the offensive attack all night. Five goals were scored by five different players.
It is Greeneville’s first win over the Patriots since 2019. After starting with a 1-0 lead in last year’s matchup the Greene Devils conceded four-straight goals in a 4-1 loss in Jefferson City. The bad taste still lingered in their mouths and they wanted to take the intensity to them early.
“They made up in their minds that wasn’t going to happen tonight,” coach Graham stated.
The win also serves as a huge boost to Greeneville’s RPI. The TSSAA uses MaxPrep’s RPI to help seed the eight teams in the state tournament in May. A win over the 8-3-1 will boost that ranking.
“It’s big for RPI. Jefferson has a great record so that will help us in seeding in the postseason should we be able to get to the state tournament,” Coach Graham mentioned.
Although Greeneville outscored Jefferson County 5-1, the Patriots outshot the Greene Devils 16-15. Greeneville had nine shots on goal and Jefferson County had six on goal.
Greeneville’s overall record improved to 9-4-2 with the victory. The win helps Greeneville’s win streak reach seven in-a-row.
“Always happy to see us peak at the right time. I’d like to think we really haven’t peaked yet. We’ve not played our best soccer. This was certainly a huge step up from where we’ve been,” Coach Graham expressed.
The Devils got started in the eighth minute with a header from Remi Vital-Elyze.
“Remy’s goal started us off and was great off that set piece and he’s just really dominant in the air,” Coach Graham stated.
Nine minutes later in the 17th minute Emerson Hensley stole the ball away and raced toward the goal with a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper. Hensley was the victor and scored the second goal of the first half.
Greeneville led 2-0 at the break.
The Patriots caught Greeneville napping on defense and launched a 35-yarder into the back of the net for Jefferson County’s lone goal in the 54th minute.
Greeneville saw that and took the opportunity to be more aggressive on the offensive attack and scored a trio of goals in the final 25 minutes.
Justin Banegas scored a goal just two minutes later on a rebounded shot off the keeper’s hands to lift the Devils up 3-1. Sam Gourley’s free kick helped set up the goal. Gourley’s shot was right on target and too much for the keeper to handle. The shot deflected off his hands and right to Justin’s foot for the goal.
Addison Lenker scored another goal five minutes later with a header in the 61st minute to extend the lead to 4-1.
If the game wasn’t put out of reach yet, but Aidan Inscore made sure it was. Inscore broke free from the defense and scored on a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper in the 76th minute.
Greeneville’s intensity and determination to control the second half after going 39 minutes without a goal was impressive to see and was noted by Head Coach Jerry Graham.
“That’s what’s most impressive is for us to finish out the game. To finish and play that full 80 minutes,” Graham explained.
Greeneville finished with their first win over Jeff County since 2019 in a 5-1 decision on Thursday night.
Remi Elyze-Vital, Emerson Hensley, Justin Banegas, Addison Lenker, and Aidan Inscore were Greeneville’s goal scorers.
Greeneville hosts Gate City (VA) next on Tuesday night at 6:00 PM.
