East Hamilton’s Nicole Ford (9) chases McMinn County’s Hailey Thompson (3) during the first half.
If McMinn County acting coach Jacob Heath had things his way, every match would be officiated like Thursday’s at East Hamilton. The results would mirror Thursday’s, too.
Sophomore Gabby Poston had a goal and an assist as the soccer Lady Cherokees defeated the host Lady Hurricanes 2-0.
The physical match was very much to the liking of Heath, who was filling in for new McMinn head coach Brittany Hart. She was unavailable due to sickness.
McMinn overcame a slow start and shook off a Tuesday loss to two-time defending Division II-AA state champion Baylor.
“I thought we bounced back well,” Heath said. “Things got a little crazy at times, but for the most part I thought we played composed. We play as physical and as hard as the referees allow us to play. They let us play tonight, and I think that’s how you should play the game.”
The Lady Cherokees were on their heels in the first 15 minutes of the match. They ducked a huge opportunity by the Lady Hurricanes when freshman Nicole Ford’s shot bounced off the crossbar. Ten minutes later, Poston beat her defender into the box and crossed the ball to Mia Kelser, who punched a shot in for a one-goal advantage.
East Hamilton actually outshot the Lady Cherokees 6-2 in the first half, but sophomore keeper Mayson Liner had four of her five saves in the first 40 minutes to keep the hosts at bay.
“We definitely had our opportunities; we just didn’t bury them,” East Hamilton coach John Millard said.
The second half was played fairly even, but with 10 minutes remaining the Lady Hurricanes pushed an extra forward into the attack to try to equalize and the visitors took advantage, scoring when Poston rebounded a shot and scored with about three minutes remaining.
“We definitely saw some good things we could build on,” Millard said. “We expected a physical match; it’s interesting to see how they’re going to respond.
“It’s great to have these games that are physical, where you’re going to pay for a couple of mistakes. We now have this to look back on, and we’ll know how to respond later in the year when we’re in a similar situation.”