GATLINBURG – The Greeneville soccer team let the game get away from them late on Saturday evening and took a 4-1 loss to Spanish Fort, Alabama in the Smoky Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg.
The Greene Devils went to halftime leading 1-0, but Spanish Fort was able to score three goals in the final 14 minutes to alter the outcome.
“We’re really disappointed with our level of play in the second half. We had a lot of players getting healthy, and we were excited with the level of competition. In the first half we did a really good job getting the first goal and denying the other team a lot of opportunities. Then to concede four goals in the second half is just disappointing.”
Greeneville is now 1-3-1 on the year and will have a break to get things figured out before taking on Volunteer on March 24.
“The important thing is to give these guys some time off and some rest. We’ll come back later in the week and get back to work at fixing some of these things,” Graham said. “We need to work on putting together 80 minutes. We’re working on getting guys back in the lineup, but every time somebody gets healthy it shifts the lineup and changes the chemistry. We’re still working on that chemistry, and hopefully after this break we will get some more consistency.”
The day started with the Greene Devils’ backline turning away a trio of Toros’ set pieces before they finally created a chance on the other end of the field.
In the ninth minute Cristian Banegas broke into the box from the left side, but he was taken off his feet before he could get a shot off. The Greene Devils were awarded a penalty kick and Sam Gourley smoothly planted it into the lower left corner of the frame for a 1-0 Greeneville lead.
In the next minute Greeneville had a chance to add to take the lead when Banegas crossed a ball to Jude Dyer in front of the frame but Spanish Fort turned it away before Dyer could attempt a shot.
In the 23rd minute Banegas and Maddox Tucker each got off shots in the box, but the Toros turned away both.
Greeneville’s backline of Aidan Inscore, Weston McGill, Justin Banegas, Addison Lenker and Remi Elyze-Vital with Landen Creech in goal kept ending Spanish Fort chances and kept the Devils in front 1-0 at the midway point.
Three minutes into the second half the Toros turned the tide on a corner kick. Ethan Malozzi lobbed in a pass from the right side and Kevin Judice met it with his head at the far post to even the score at 1-1.
Spanish Fort spent much of the rest of the second half on the attack, but they did not take the lead until the 66th minute.
The go-ahead goal came on a defensive lapse when Jack Finlay fired a shot from the top of the box. A deflection slowed it down, but the ball still managed to roll through traffic and find the back of the net for a 2-1 lead.
The lead moved to 3-1 in the 75th minute when William Lehrter punched in a goal and Finaly scored the final goal on a penalty kick in the 79th minute.
