The Lady Highlanders soccer team blanked the Cherokee Lady Braves 2-0 in a rowdy match Monday evening, April 29.
The teams played hard and the game was full of players crowding the ball trying to get it away from their opponents. Several times, players took hits to the upper body or face after aggressive kicks from opponents. Players ducked, jumped and weaved around one another trying to get the edge.
The ball stayed in the middle of the field as the players battled it out, strong defenses giving both goals a wide berth for the first 25 minutes of the game. With 14 and a half minutes to go in the first half, the Lady Highlanders were able to score their first goal.
The rest of the half went by with no further scoring, and the second half was more of the same combative plays by the teams as they attempted to seize control of the ball. Only the Lady Highlanders would succeed, scoring a second goal with around 20 minutes to go in the second half.
Coach Caleb Brown said the game had been “very physical.”
“If it were me and I was refereeing, I would’ve pulled out a lot more cards,” he said. “There were a lot of challenges, a lot of fouls. But they pulled through. They scored some great goals and again they worked together as a team.”
Brown said going forward, he wanted to work more on the team’s free kicks when they got the opportunity.
“When we’re given the ball in the middle of the field, given a total free kick, we had a tendency to shoot it, to kick it as hard as we could right down the middle, and that just doesn’t work,” he said. “We’re going to work on free kicks and maintaining that possession. If your team has the ball, the other team can’t score, so that’s what we’re focused on, keeping the ball.”
Brown praised the team and said he was “really proud of them.”
“I think they’re going to win the conference this year and definitely going to make the playoffs,” he said.
The Lady Highlanders’ next game is tonight, Thursday at home against Tri-County Early College.