KNOXVILLE – The Greeneville soccer team fought to the finish on Saturday afternoon, but they could not overcome some lapses on defense and fell to Gallatin 3-2 at the Bearden Invitational in Knoxville.
“I’m a little disappointed in the outcome. We felt like this was a winnable game, and that we are a comparable team to Gallatin,” Greeneville coach Jerry Graham said. “But where we are with the injury list made things difficult. I am very proud of the boys’ effort, especially with as thin as we are right now.”
Late in the second half Greeneville found itself in a 3-0 hole, but Samuel Gourley refused to let the Greene Devils go down easy as he found the back of the net twice in the final 21 minutes.
The first of those goals came in the 59th minute when Gourley made a solo run through half the field. He charged through the entire Green Wave backline before settling for a shot just inside the 18-yard box. His shot settled inside the right post to put the Greene Devils on the board.
Greeneville kept its foot on the gas and stayed aggressive on offense. Simon Holt made a dangerous run in the 61st minute, but the defense turned him away at the last second. In the 64th minute Emerson Hensley got off a good look but it was wide of the post. Gourley went one on five into the box in the 71st minute, and found the right angle, but his shot was just wide of frame.
In the 77th minute Hensley got the offense started by taking the ball out of Devils own box. He moved it ahead to Holt at midfield and Holt sent the ball to Gourley charging up the left boundary. Gourley got in front of his marker and broke to the box where he pinned a shot into the upper right corner of the frame to close the gap to 3-2.
“We appreciate that effort from Sam, because that is what drives the team,” Graham said. “For him to get two of those goals back and keep us in the game was an outstanding effort. But as a team we needed to do a better job of getting some buildup and getting some goals.”
All three Gallatin goals came from situations where the Devils let the ball linger in the box too long. On the other end of the field Greeneville had some opportunities with good buildup, but it could not find the right finishing touch.
After a back-and-forth first 30 minutes the Green Wave broke the deadlock with 10 minutes left in the first half. The play started with Miguel Miranda sending a shot at the frame that keeper Landen Creech tipped away. A corner kick followed that the defense broke up but could not clear. The ball found the feet of Alex McCullen at the top of the box, and he fired it through traffic for a 1-0 lead.
In the 54th minute the Wave sent a cross over Greeneville’s defense from right to left. Miranda had time to take in the pass, touch it twice and then settle before ripping his shot inside the left post.
“We tried to focus in practice on staying on your mark and not ball watching. We got caught ball watching today and lost our men. They found the open guy and it cost us a couple of times,” Graham said.
Gallatin’s lead grew to 3-0 in the 57th minute. It came after a succession of set pieces that the Devils could not get control of. First it was a free kick that defender Remi Elyze-Vital was able to head away. On the corner kick the Devils broke up the shot, but set up another one.
On their third chance Galatin’s Jonathan Case sent in the pass and Miranda headed it home.
Greeneville will be back in action at Bearden on Sunday as it takes on Science Hill.
