Greeneville started the Region 1-AA Tournament on Tuesday night with a dominant 9-0 win over Sullivan East at Fox Field.
“It feels good to get a good win tonight against good competition and a well-coached team. To just get that win and be able to play two more games and punch that ticket to play the state sectional match is important,” Greeneville Head Coach Jerry Graham described.
The Lady Devils started red hot and never let off the gas. The game only reached 60 minutes of a possible 80, as it was all Greeneville needed to reach its 9-0 mercy-rule advantage. A trio of multi-goal performances led the way for the Lady Devils offense. Freshman Elsie Rogers and sophomore Peyton Vaught each delivered hat tricks in the victory while senior Vivian Kammerdiener added a brace with two goals. Sophomore Kinsley Spradlen rounded out the scoring as the lone solo goal scorer.
Greeneville had 31 shots (26 on goal) and only allowed one shot on defense all game. The Greeneville defense pitched a shutout and was impenetrable in Tuesday’s win.
“Talk about our defense not conceding a goal back there. Cailee (Broyles) back there and what Elaina (Philbeck) and Julia (Woolsey) do back there has just been pretty phenomenal too,” Graham said.
The win sets up Thursday’s Region Championship to be hosted by Greeneville at Fox Field. Elizabethton defeated Volunteer, 3-0, and will travel to Greeneville for the championship. The game is set to begin at 6:00.
“We think it’s really important to be able to host. That’s been one of the goals we’ve talked about is playing through and the road has to come through here on Fox Field. We had to travel up to Elizabethton last year and we didn’t play our best soccer up there, so we think we’ve got the girls pretty focused on what we need to do to be hosting them this Thursday night,” Coach Graham mentioned.
With the win, Greeneville also earns a sectional berth on Saturday and will play for a chance to advance to the Class AA State Tournament.
The game started quickly with sophomore Peyton Vaught scoring the first goal only 57 seconds in. Elsie Rogers didn’t wait long before joining her on the stat sheet and netted the second goal of the contest in the second minute. Greeneville led 2-0 and wasn’t done yet. Rogers hit a one-timer from the left side and scored her second of the game, and Greeneville’s third, for a 3-0 lead in the 9th minute.
Seniors Vivian Kammerdiener and Angelyn Diaz teamed up for Greeneville’s next goal. Kammerdiener received a pass from Diaz and won a one-on-one opportunity with the keeper for her first goal of the night. Diaz picked up her second assist. The Lady Devils led 4-0 in the 18th minute. Kammerdiener’s second goal occurred in the 26th minute to extend the lead to 5-0.
“Vivian is that leader up top. She dictates everything,” Coach Graham stated. “Her ability to turn the ball and play it into space is phenomenal and for her to turn and just take shots.”
Peyton Vaught scored once more before the half with a one-on-one finish in the 36th minute.
Greeneville led 6-0 at halftime.
Vaught was the first goal scorer of the first half and the first goal scorer of the second half. In the 47th minute, Vaught tapped in a corner kick from Kinsley Spradlen and clinched her hat trick to make it 7-0. Just seconds later Elsie Rogers clinched her hat trick with a goal assisted by Vivian Kammerdiener in the 48th minute. The Lady Devils went ahead 8-0.
“It’s great for them. Elsie finally saw some of the production from a lot of the work that she’s put in getting her first hat trick of her Greeneville High School career. Peyton did a good job and was at the right place at the right time for a couple of those, but she also created a lot on her runs,” Graham said.
Kinsley Spradlen ended the night with a goal in the 60th minute to put the mercy rule into effect.
“Kinsley played exceptional and a lot of the stuff she does off the ball a lot of people don’t realize she’s creating space for other people like Peyton to run into and that opens up a lot of things. Her soccer IQ and the things that other people are doing on the field have been tremendous on how we’re playing soccer right now,” Coach Graham expressed.
Greeneville defeated Sullivan East, 9-0, and advanced to host Thursday’s Region Championship Game at home vs. Elizabethton. The game is set to begin at 6:00.
