The Highlands varsity soccer team blanked the Tri-County Early College Jaguars 4-0 at a home game Monday evening.
The game was fast and physical, with the players rushing all over the field, evenly matched and both unable to get in a goal early. The score remained even at 0-0 for much of the half.
With 19 minutes on the clock, Highlanders junior Connor Hughes was able to drive the ball into the goal and get the score to 1-0. After that, the Highlanders went on the offensive and attempted several goal kicks with the opposing goalie blocking some and others flying way over the net.
A strong kick by freshman Rowan Carnes scored the Highlander their second goal with seven minutes left on the clock. Then they notched a third goal with one minute left when junior Aniah McKim got the ball straight in the back of the net. The Highlanders finished the first half with 3-0 over the Jaguars.
After the halftime intermission, the teams both came back energized. The Jaguars played aggressively, but it was the Highlanders who kept up their scoring – with 35 minutes to go, junior Bryan Jarquin met a member of the Jaguars close to the goal with the ball right between their feet. It could’ve gone either way, but Jarquin got a window of opportunity and made a successful goal kick, raising the Highlanders 4-0 over the Jaguars.
That was the last goal scored in the game. The Highlanders made several attempts to fire the ball on net, but the Jaguars maintained their defense that lasted until the clock ran out.
“They played extremely well,” coach Caleb Brown said. “They played together as a team – they did a really good job moving the ball around. They passed extremely well. They took a ton of chances, they had a bunch of shots on the goal.”
Brown had strong praise for the Highlanders’ defense: their center-back, left-back and goalkeeper “each had a great game where they saved what could’ve been a sure-fire goal,” he said.
He complimented the Jaguars as well.
“Tri-County Early College has some good physical players and they did a good job. They’ve got a lot of speed. They got like four kids who are very fast, gave us a run for our money,” he said.
The Highlanders are now 9-1 in conference, and Brown said the team’s goal is “to try and finish out the rest of the season without losing another game.”
They faced off against Swain County on Wednesday evening, Oct. 23 at home after press time, and their next game is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 28, an away game against Blue Ridge.