Gilmer Caps Off Packed Week at North Murray

A busy week for the Gilmer High School soccer contingent concluded last Friday, with a JV match at North Murray High School.

The JV Lady Cats picked up a 3-0 victory, while the Bobcats fell 7-0 to the Mountaineers.

Lady Cats

Tori Jack wasted little time getting Gilmer on the scoreboard against North Murray, scoring a goal from 30 yards out seven minutes into the game. Jack again supplied a goal for the Lady Cats in the second half, on a penalty kick with 29:18 left in the match.

Haley Farmer added to the fun six minutes later with a goal that came during a packed battle for the ball inside the box. The Lady Mountaineers failed to respond to the deficit, giving GHS the shutout victory.

“What a great game,” said Lady Cats head coach April Nicholson. “JV games inherently have less pressure to them than the varsity games because they don’t affect region standings, but we take them very seriously.  Our girls came out read to play and to win, and they didn’t disappoint. Our dribbling, passing, and defense were top notch.”

Goalkeeper Tylea Hernandez saved nine shots for Gilmer.

The varsity Lady Cats also saw action last week, dropping two region matches to both Southeast Whitfield and Northwest Whitfield by the same margin, 2-0.

Nicholson also commented on the varsity matches, saying, “Southeast is one of our region competitors who consistently has a very good program. We came out strong and played them really hard. Our girls never gave up; they played hard until the final buzzer, and I’m incredibly proud of the resiliency and tenacity they showed.”

She continued about the Northwest contest, “Our girls came out really strong against Northwest and gave them a good show. We were incredibly aggressive, and kept them from scoring the entire second half. Right now, we’re on track to break a school record for number of goals given up, as we’re averaging less than two per game. These girls are making good things happen and I’m very proud of them.”

Mountaineers shut down Bobcats

Both boys teams suffered through struggles last week, with the JV finding itself unable to slow down the Mountaineers last Friday. Kevin Garcia got the scoring attack underway early, punching the ball into the net with 24:31 left in the first half. Brian Loarca added one with 14:03 remaining before halftime, before Raul Romero widened the North Murray lead to 3-0 with a goal less than two minutes later.

The break in the action failed to slow down the Mountaineers. Diego Munguia scored with 24:56 left in the game, before a Ivan Munguia goal four minutes later extended the NMHS lead to 5-0. Garcia picked up his second goal of the game with 13:30 remaining on the clock, before Romero added his second as well with 3:12 left in regulation off a Jesus Pedraza corner kick, to help North Murray pick up a 7-0 victory.

“We’re really excited,” said North Murray JV coach Matt Chambers after the win. “I think the thing I’m most proud of is a complete game. That shows a lot of maturity for the younger players. That means a lot to me, in terms of who’s going to contribute to the varsity in the coming years. We’re never selfish with the ball. We have quick 1-2 touches. A coach can’t ask for much more than that.”

Seth Allen recorded three saves for the JV Mountaineers, while Ben Jones had 12 for Gilmer.

The varsity Bobcats also struggled in region play last week, falling 4-0 to Southeast Whitfield and 5-0 to Northwest Whitfield.

Speaking on the Southeast match, Bobcats head coach Simon Phipps said, “We fought really hard and never gave up. The boys have nothing to be ashamed of. They should hold their heads high. At times we made a very good side look ordinary.”

The varsity Lady Cats currently sit at 2-5 for the season (0-3 in region play), while the varsity Bobcats are 2-4-1 (1-2 in region play) thus far. The JV Lady Cats are 2-0, while the JV Bobcats sit at 0-3.

The JV Mountaineers improved to 3-0 for the season with their victory Friday night, while the JV Lady Mountaineers fell to 2-1 for the year after the loss to Gilmer.

 

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