KNOXVILLE – After year away the Greeneville soccer team has been determined to continue the program’s tradition of playing in the state tournament, and on Saturday they secured their spot in Murfreesboro.
Playing on the road in the Class AA State Sectionals the Greene Devils executed the game plan, found the right shots and took down Fulton 3-2 to cemented their spot in next week’s Class AA State Tournament.
“The guys really played well today,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “It’s great to be going back to state. Last year was a disappointment. For these young guys to get to go for the first time, and for our upperclassmen to get to go back, it’s tremendous.”
It will be Greeneville’s 14th trip to the state tournament. The previous 13 came consecutively from 2011-2024, with the exception of the 2020 tournament that was not played. Last Year the Greene Devils came up short against David Crockett in the region semifinals and saw their season end early. They were determined to right that wrong this year, and Saturday’s win got things back on track.
“It feels so great to be going to state,” Greeneville senior Emerson Hensley said. “We lost early last year. We put in a lot of work through the offseason, and I’m so glad we are here now. It feels amazing. We needed to get back to state, this was really important for us.”
The Class AA State Tournament will begin on Tuesday at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro. In the quarterfinals Greeneville will play South-Doyle at 7 PM central time.
“We are going to see this caliber of team at the state tournament, and we have to play at the level we were at in the second half today,” Graham said. “We have to complete our opportunities. We didn’t do that against Elizabethton, and we were able to do it a little more often today. From here on it about denying the other team’s opportunities and making the most of ours.”
Saturday’s action started with Greeneville taking the attack to the Falcons and in the ninth minute they took the lead. Aidan Inscore took possession on the left side of the formation and moved to the end line before finding room to lob up a cross. Jude Dyer met the ball at the far post and bodied it into the back of the net.
“It was really big to score first,” Graham said. “We felt like we had some good opportunities from the start. We were getting the opportunities we wanted, but to get that one to go in really gave us some confidence.”
The shots kept coming for Greeneville, but it was Fulton who scored next.
In the 18th minute the Falcons were awarded a free kick outside the box and Cristian Villatoro Cueto let a shot go from the right side. He got it past the wall and pinned it inside the lower right corner to even things at 1-1.
For much of the evening Greeneville’s defense kept Fulton out of rhythm, mostly by making things difficult on top scorer Emanuel Mosquera Gonzalez, who came into the game with 38 goals scored. Justin Banegas stayed on his hip for most of the contest and kept him from finding good looks at the net. William Woolsey helped with that effort, especially late in the game, and in the middle Weston McGill cleaned up anything that got loose in the box.
“(Gonzalez) is an outstanding player, he has 38 goals. You have to see him in person to really know how to defend him,” Graham said. “I felt like we did a really good job on him. Those guys in the back were tremendous. We made sure we were pressuring and covering him all night. We wanted some one on him at all times and someone covering behind. There were some scarry moments, but those guys were disciplined back there.”
The score stayed 1-1 into halftime, but Banegas inserted himself into the attack in the 47th minute. He made a run up the left side and the Falcons’ defense kept giving him space to dribble. After a 50-yard run he fired from the left side at the top of the box and the shot slipped past keeper Michelangelo Maez inside the left post for a 2-1 lead.
“That goal speaks to Justin’s soccer IQ,” Graham said. “That back line continued to back up. If they stepped to him he had the pass. It was a tough decision for the center back to make, and then he struck the ball really well for a shot in the lower left corner. That was a tremendous play.”
It did not take long for the lead to grow to 3-1. In the 52nd minute Emerson Hensley maneuvered into the box and sent a good look at the frame, but Maez turned it away. Hensley stayed with the play and chased down the rebound. While fading behind the left post Hensley reached out and flicked the ball mid bounce. He put the perfect curl on the seemingly impossible shot, wrapping it around the frame and past Maez for a goal.
“I’ve worked on shooting drills all offseason, and it paid off right there. I knew I could do it, and I got it,” Hensley said.
On the restart Gonzalez did get in on the scoring action. He launched the ball from the midfield stripe to the goal to close the gap to 3-2.
Greeneville never relented on the offensive end and Sam Gourley and Remi Elyze-Vital found a handful of promising opportunities, but none of them increased the Greene Devils’ lead.
In the final 10 minutes there were a few worrisome moments for Greeneville as the Falcons fought hard to find the equalizer, but Gannon Cogdell held strong between the pipes.
In the 71st minute Gonzalez broke free finally, but his shot missed the frame. In the 75th minute Tonee Hayes banged one off the cross bar and in the 79th minute Gonzalez had another chance on a corner kick, but Greeneville survived the scare again.
