Smoky Mountain's Coleman Corzine plays the
ball as an Asheville player moves in to defend in last week's
6-1 loss. - Herald photo by Nick Breedlove
Smoky Mountain opened the Mountain Athletic Conference
portion of its soccer season with a 6-1 loss at Asheville on
Aug. 27.
Scott Szymanski scored twice and had an assist for the Cougars.
"I think we learned something about what to expect from
a quality team," Coach Dolphus Brown said. "We played
scared, and our kids know that. We played like we were supposed
to get beat. Our kids were very angry and disappointed in themselves."
Brown said Asheville "had a lot of speed up top,"
and that became evident early on when Szymanski scored at the
6:35 mark.
"He just burned us on the wing," the coach said.
The Cougars went up 2-0 on Ross Righi's goal at the 19:08 mark.
The play was controversial as Mustang coaches felt an Asheville
played had knocked down goalie Bryan Newbold allowing Righi
to tap the ball into an open net. The officials ruled Newbold
had been knocked down either by a teammate or by an Asheville
player who had been knocked into Newbold by a Mustang.
The margin was 3-0 at halftime after McKay Mullen beat defenders
off the dribble to score at the 30:44 mark.
The Cougars made it 4-0 early in the second half with Szymanski
scoring off a cross from Righi at the 42:43 mark.
"Righi came down the right side and beat two of our guys,"
Brown said. "The ball was played across the middle, and
Szymanski put it in from 6 yards out."
Asheville went up 5-0 when Michael Siegel scored with an assist
from Szymanski at the 59-minute mark.
Szymanski's throw-in started the play, and Siegel was "totally
unmarked at the far post," according to Brown.
The Mustangs (4-2) got on the board when P.J. Arkansas scored
at the 70:52 mark. David White picked up the assist with the
throw-in as Arkansas came out of a crowd to put the ball in
the net.
The Cougars concluded the scoring with a breakaway down the
right side by Haskins Howerton at the 76:33 mark.
Asheville controlled play from the start and finished with a
24-5 advantage in shots. Newbold made 11 saves while Neville
Hayes had three for the Cougars.
The Mustangs played without defender Chris Wofford, who was
bothered by an ingrown toe nail.
The SM JVs fell to 0-2 with an 11-0 loss.
