The Soddy-Daisy girls' soccer team and coach Moises Drumond entered the 2012 season wondering how they were going to fill voids at some key positions. Although Miranda Smith wasn't one of those question marks, she did her best to erase any possible doubt Tuesday.
Behind Smith's two goals, the Lady Trojans got off to a good start with a 2-1 victory at Chattanooga Christian.
Soddy-Daisy (1-0) had to replace a goalkeeper, a sweeper and a midfielder who were key players in last season's run to the Class AAA state semifinals.
Drumond has done a lot of mixing and matching in the preseason, but Smith as well as forward Summer Lanter and midfielder Natalie Smith showed there's still a good foundation for the program.
"We definitely saw where we needed to improve," Drumond said. "We have to get more organized defensively and do better about transitioning to our offense. We created some good opportunities with our team speed, but we still have to put our players in better positions to create."
The Lady Chargers -- 2011 state semifinalists as well, in Class A/AA -- flirted with a goal early, but it was the Lady Trojans who broke through in the 10th minute when Lanter got past a defender and fed Miranda Smith in the middle for a goal.
That lead was safe until the 30th minute, when CCS's Ellie Henry was moved from defender to the midfield and promptly scored from about 20 yards out to tie the score.
Smith's second goal came as a result of a free kick, created after Lanter was fouled right outside the box in the 39th minute.
The Lady Chargers created some opportunities in the second half, including solid chances by Allie Vannoy and Ashley Sullivan. The hosts got the majority of the 50-50 balls in the final 40 minutes, much to the dismay of Drumond, but the Lady Trojans had some scoring chances late in the contest.
"I love to play teams like that," CCS coach Cal Sneller said. "We did a good job of holding their dangerous players down, and didn't let them get too many opportunities.
"Tonight's nothing for us to hang our hat on, but I thought we definitely came out strong and played well."