The Gilmer High School soccer squad started the 2016 season hosting a junior varsity match against Fannin at Clear Creek Middle School Monday.

The first games of the year concluded with the JV Lady Cats toppling the Fannin Lady Rebels 1-0, before the JV Bobcats fell to the Rebels 4-2.

Lady Cats

Kate Schiesser scored the lone Gilmer goal against the Lady Rebels, giving the JV Lady Cats a 1-0 victory.

Head Lady Cats coach April Nicholson pointed out the advantage of setting up a busy JV season. “JV games give us a great opportunity to get younger girls lots of time on the field,” Nicholson said. “We saw lots of good plays from our younger girls and I’m very excited for the season!”

Bobcats

In the Bobcats 4-2 loss to the Rebels, Coady Cobb and Ervin Lopez provided the goals for Gilmer.

Simon Phipps expressed optimism for his first season at the helm of the Bobcats, despite the loss. “Overall, I was pleased with the performance,” Phipps said. “We had 25 boys come out to play JV soccer and every boy got sometime on the field. Fannin had a lot of experienced players and we kept things pretty close for 80 percent of the match. There was a lot of positives and a number of areas highlighted that we need more work on. We are a young side and will get better over the length of the season. It is a development side preparing players for future varsity games this year or next. There was enough potential on display to make me happy.”

The varsity was set to start its season yesterday at Sonoraville, but the game was postponed due to inclement weather. No make-up date has been announced. Gilmer will head to North Murray for its next match Friday. The JV will next compete Feb. 19 at Heritage.