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Lady Mustang soccer team opens season with two wins over Erwin
Smoky Mountain’s soccer team opened its season last week with wins over Erwin on back-to-back days.
The Lady Mustangs were 2-1 winners at Erwin on March 6. Terra Mileti and Sarah Newbold had unassisted goals in the 45th and 55th minutes, respectively.
Lauren Hopper put the Lady Warriors on the board with an unassisted goal in the 68th minute.
Smoky Mountain’s Abi Jones (right) gains control of the ball as an Erwin player moves in during last week’s home-opener. The Lady Mustangs won 3-1. – Herald photo by Carey Phillips
“It’s always nice to win your first game,” Coach Stephaen Delor said. “It’s something that has not happened for a while in our women’s program. We are moving things around, and we are looking at players in different positions. We saw some good things. We have a good group of girls that are dedicated, and we are looking forward to an exciting season”.
SM took nine shots to Erwin’s six. Shandi Young made five saves for the Lady Mustangs.
Chelsea Parham put the Lady Mustangs on the board at the 22:19 mark when Erwin’s keeper was out of position and Parham had a wide open net.
Courtney Spaulding’s penalty kick after a hand ball in the box made it 2-0 at the 33-minute mark.
Hopper’s goal cut the gap to 3-1 at the 55:28 mark.
Mileti got an insurance goal at the 71:20 mark with an assist by Marissa Wright.
“Erwin is a much improved team from years past, and they gave us good competition in both games,” Delor said. “We played all of our 26 players as we are looking to give experience to as many players as possible. It will pay off down the stretch and for the future of the program. We have a long way to go and need to improve in many areas.”
SM had a 9-7 edge in shots. Young made six saves.
“The competition is going to get tougher from this point on,” the coach said. “Our focus is to prepare for our opening conference game vs. Brevard. We will see if the girls have what it takes to rise up to the occasion. It is up to them”.
Two games scheduled against Cherokee will not be played because the Lady Braves’ folded their program.
The remainder of the schedule is as follows:
March 15 – Camp Living Water; 16 – North Buncombe; 21 – Brevard; 23 – Franklin; 26 – East Henderson; 28 – at North Henderson.
April 2 – West Henderson; 4 – at Pisgah; 18 – at Brevard; 23 – at East Henderson; 25 – North Henderson; 30 – at West Henderson.
May 2 – Pisgah.
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