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Smoky Mountain soccer team starts year by defeating Owen
Smoky Mountain scored two goals 90 seconds apart as the Mustangs opened their soccer season Monday with a 2-1 victory at Carr Hooper Stadium/Babe Howell Field.
“The good news is we won,” Coach Dolphus Brown said. “We dodged a big bullet. Last year we were 0-1, and now we’re 1-0.”
Despite the win, Brown found plenty of areas that need work.
Smoky Mountain’s Grant Schallock tries to gain possession of the ball in Monday’s season-opening 2-1 win over Owen. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
“We were a little overconfident and didn’t have the respect for Owen that we should have,” he said. “We looked tired. We were very disappointed in our fitness. We had three or four breakaway chances, but we didn’t finish well.”
The Warhorses scored first when David Stollery connected with an assist from Clark Unlenhopp three minutes into the game.
“The ball came in out of the middle, and they played it to the right side,” Brown said. “Stollery got free in the box and shot it from 12 or 13 yards out.”
SM drew even on a goal by Joey Cox off of David Cheatham’s assist at the 26-minute mark.
“David made a run and played the ball forward diagonally from the left side toward the top of the box,” the coach said. “Joey took one step and shot from 15 yards.”
The Mustangs went up 2-1 some 90 seconds later when Martin Davis scored with an assist from Grant Schallock.
“Grant played the ball forward to Martin, who scrapped through a couple of defenders and shot from 10 yards,” Brown said.
Neither team scored the rest of the game.
“We bent, but we didn’t break in the second half,” the coach said.
SM had a 26-18 advantage in shots. Cody Bryson made nine saves for the Mustangs, and Owen’s Garret Swann had 13.
In a final tune-up for the season, the Mustangs rolled to a 9-2 win in a scrimmage on Aug. 16 at Hendersonville.
Schallock scored three goals with Cox and Richard Ramirez adding two apiece. Davis and John Brown both scored once.
Rob Tyson handed out three assists, and Cox had two. Brown, Schallock, Cheatham, Ramirez and Matt Dougherty all recorded one,
“We were very efficient,” Coach Brown said. “We only outshot them 19-12, but we made the most of our opportunities.”
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