GATLINGBURG – Set pieces were the undoing of Greeneville’s defense on Saturday afternoon, and the offense could not get enough going to answer as it fell to McCracken County, Kentucky 4-1 in the Smoky Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg.
“We’re disappointed. We felt like we were in position to get a win today,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “But it was a matter of discipline and defensive principles that we just weren’t doing. It was just the case of defensive mishaps. But it doesn’t matter how many you give up, you have to score and we did not do that enough.”
The Lady Greene Devils started the tournament on Friday with a 0-0 tie against Clarksville and will finish on Sunday against Pope John Paul II. While Graham would have liked a better result on Saturday the reason his team plays in the challenging bracket in the tournament is to test themselves against top-notch competition.
“We want to come down here and learn about all of the good things we can do. We are learning those things, but we are also reflecting on where we can improve,” Graham said. “We need to correct those mental mistakes. We know we are going to see another quality team tomorrow and we have to come back refocused.”
McCracken started the scoring on Saturday in the second minute when Maddy Ledgerwood separated from the defense in the box and beat keeper Cailee Broyles one on one.
Greeneville quickly turned the flow of the game the other direction and started putting pressure on the Lady Mustangs. That pressure paid off in the ninth minute when the Lady Devils evened the score at 1-1.
From the midfield Harper Neas sent a pass ahead to Kinsley Spradlen who made a run up the right side. As she entered the box Spradlen sent a low cross across the frame to Peyton Vaught who pounded it home.
Greeneville maintained its offensive pressure throughout the first half with Vivian Kammerdiener working the defense from the middle with tough dribbling and quick passes while Spradlen kept making tough runs from the right, but the score stayed even until halftime.
In the second half the Lady Devils could not maintain the same offensive pressure and the momentum began to shift in McCracken’s favor.
The Lady Mustangs took the lead in the 48th minute on a 50-yard free kick. Maddy Ault launched the ball in the box from the left side of the formation. The defense watched the ball land before it took a big hop that bounced over everyone into the net.
In the 67th minute Ault struck from deep again. This time she was given a free kick from 35 yards that cleared Greeneville’s defensive wall and slipped under the cross bar.
“We haven’t had time to work a ton on set pieces, especially from distance. We just haven’t practiced bringing those long balls down. That’s something we can work on as a team. But the other side is that we don’t need to be making those fouls in our defensive third. That’s just giving them a chance,” Graham said.
The Lady Mustangs final goal came in the 78th minute on a corner kick that Emma Hudson pushed through the crowd and across the goal line.
