JOHNSON CITY – The Greeneville soccer team twice found the answer it needed on Thursday night, but with less than two minutes remaining University High was able knock home the decisive goal and capture a 3-2 win at Winged Deer Park in Johnson City.
“It took us some time to adapt to the small field. It’s short and it’s narrow and it doesn’t really fit our style, but in the second half we did a better job of making the field as big as possible,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “I thought we got better shots, and better possession in the second half. We didn’t give them a whole lot of opportunities, but with two minutes left nobody clears a ball. Instead, we watched them score. We are dealing with injuries and sickness, but I felt like we had a team that could win this game tonight, and we didn’t get it done.”
Greeneville controlled much of the second half and had more dangerous opportunities near the box, but it could not find the go-ahead touch.
With just 14 players in uniform and most of the starting 11 playing all 80 minutes the Lady Devils wore down in the final minutes. They let the ball stay in front of their own goal for too long and eventually the Lady Bucs broke through.
In less than a minute University High took three shots on goal and Greeneville could not clear the ball from its own territory. With 1:34 left to play and the score knotted at 2-2 University was able to knock the ball into the 18-yard box and Becca Ford stepped to it first. She knocked home the game-winning goal for 10 yards away.
“I felt like we played the better second half until that final three minutes, and that’s frustrating,” Graham said. “But it doesn’t matter if you out-possess a team or out-shoot a team, the only stat that really matters is the final score.”
The Lady Buccaneers were able to take the first lead of the night in the 10th minute when Charlotte Williams worked into the box one-on-one and beat her mark before sending a hard shot inside the right post.
It did not take long for Greeneville to answer. In the 12th minute Kinsley Spradlen had her feet taken out from under her while charging at the frame and a penalty kick was awarded. Peyton Vaught took the free shot and pinned it into the lower left corner of the frame to even the score at 1-1.
University High was able to regain the lead in the 26th minute when it got a second try at a corner kick. After the ball took a few bounces in a crowded box Ava Williams found it and hammered home a goal through traffic for a 2-1 Lady Bucs’ lead.
Greeneville almost immediately answered with Matea Gray and Angelyn Diaz building the action before sending a pass ahead to Vaught who was breaking free from the defense. The only problem was keeper Anna Reeves narrowly beat Vaught to the ball to thwart the attack.
The Lady Greene Devils did find the equalizer in the 35th minute. Aliyah Johnson started things by sending a pass from the boundary to Gray in the middle of the field. Gray then sent a lead pass to Spradlen coming up the left side, and Spradlen pulled up to shoot at 12 yard and found the back of the net.
In the second half Greeneville was able to apply more pressure on offense and had a handful of chances to go in front.
On corner kick in the 42nd minute Hannah Lister had a chance but her shot sailed high. Then in the 50th minute Vaught worked the defense at the left edge of the box before finding the right look, but her shot missed the frame.
In the 55th and 56th minutes Vaught sent goods looks into the box to Gray and Spradlen respectively, but both times Reeves beat the offense to what looked like sure goals.
In the 69th minute Gray led Vaught into the box but again Reeves collided with the Lady Devil before she could get the shot off.
As the game wore on the possession shifted to University High. Greeneville played most of the final 10 minutes on its heels, and the back line finally broke in the 78th minute with Ford’s decisive goal.
“This was our fifth game in eight day, and we have a lot of minutes on our legs. I know the girls are not rested. But we have some stuff we have to work on, and we have to get back practice,” Graham said.
