CLEVELAND, Tenn.-McMinn County junior Haley Ward has a knack for hitting big shots-especially against Cleveland.
During basketball season, her late-game 3-pointer broke a tie against the Lady Raiders and propelled McMinn to a region semifinal victory. Thursday night, in soccer, her late goal gave the Lady Cherokees a 1-0 victory in their District 5-AAA opener.
That was coach David McDonald’s first win over Cleveland as girls’ coach.
Ward’s goal in the 73rd minute came off a feed from Arielle Hansford and was the junior’s first-ever goal against Cleveland.
“This is just a big step up for us,” Ward said. “We feel like if we can beat a team like Cleveland, we can play with and beat anybody.