GATLINBURG – The Greeneville soccer team could not catch the right breaks on Saturday afternoon and fell 3-0 to South Warren, Kentucky in Gatlinburg at the Smoky Mountain Cup.
“We have a lot of tired girls, a lot of injured girls and a lot of girls with a lot minutes under their feet,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “We knew this was South Warren’s first game in the tournament, but we tried to not let that effect us. I felt like our girls came out and competed really well against a very good South Warren team. I was proud of our veterans; they really stepped up today.”
Two hard-luck goals put the Lady Devils behind in the first half. The first of those came in the game’s third minute. A deflected goal kick found its way to the feet of Ashten Fisher in the box, and she quickly fired a shot into the back of the net with Greeneville’ defense caught out of position.
In the 19th minute South Warren’s lead grew to 2-0 when another deflected ball took a lateral bounce into the box. Isabelle Bradley was the first to the ball and found herself alone in the in front of the frame. Her 15-yard shot slipped inside the left post to give the Lady Spartans control of the contest.
“We conceded two goals on two defensive mistakes, but we continued to battle,” Graham said. “We knew they were going to press on those goal kicks and we had big miscues. We talked after the game about how we are going to fix that going forward, because we will see it again down the road. And we did correct it in the second half.”
Throughout the first half Greeneville made some tough plays from the midfield and tried to create some attacking opportunities. In particular Matea Gray and Angelyn Diaz put a lot of pressure on South Warren’s defense.
“Matea And Angelyn continue work together in the midfield and are very dynamic together,” Graham said. “They provide us so much in the midfield and they create a lot for our wingers. The big thing we have to take away from today is that we created opportunities, but we have to take advantage of them.”
Diaz had the Lady Devils first good look at the frame in the 11th minute when she dispossessed the defense 40 yards from the frame and charged goalward. As she entered the box she took her shot, but keeper Caitlin Kincaid turned it away.
Diaz had another chance in the 15th minute. She stole the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and quickly sent it at the keeper, but again Kincaid stopped the chance.
Through the final 20 minutes of the second half Greeneville had a handful of good chances but the Lady Devils could not find the right touch in front of the frame.
Kisley Spradlen made a run up the left side in the 23rd minute that was thwarted. In the 26th minute Aliyah Johnson bounced off defenders to work into the box, but her shot was off the mark. In the 27th minute Gray found a good look from 25 yards but could not beat the keeper.
In the second half Greeneville’s offense was able to apply more pressure early, but still could not stretch the net. Peyton Vaught took a pair of free kicks, but neither was on the mark. Ava Daniel found a good opportunity in the box in the 46th minute, but the Kincaid grabbed it.
Through much of the final 40 minutes center backs Marley VanBuskirk and Elaina Philbeck shut down everything that came at them, but in the 63rd minute South Warren added to its lead. Hope Bolin took possession at the top of the box and rocketed a shot inside the right post for a 3-0 advantage.
Greeneville started the Smoky Cup on Friday with a 0-0 tie against Trinity Christian. On Sunday the Lady Devils will finish the tournament against Newport Central Catholic of Kentucky.
