Cherokee – Girls soccer head coach Kim Brownlee knew her team was likely to beat the Lady Braves on April 21, so she had a few other goals in mind.
She wanted her team to have fun, play as many players as possible and experiment with new formations. Brownlee was able to do all that and more, as the Bulldogs blew away Cherokee 7-0.
“We come in serious, we come in ready to play,” Brownlee said. “We come in wanting to make sure we do what we need to do. We can relax a little once we realize that this is going to be a night to try different things and not so much intensity is required.”
Murphy (6-2-1, 6-2 in the Smoky Mountain Conference) scored four goals early in the first half and led 5-0 at halftime. Junior Amber Martin put a shot past Cherokee’s goalie without much of a problem to start the barrage. From that point on it was the Lailee Hollaway show on the offensive end.
The freshman striker scored the next five goals for Murphy, starting with her first that bounced off the goalies hand and over the goal line. Her second came on a botched goal kick where she corralled the ball and put it into the back of the net. A few minutes later, Hollaway finished off the hat trick and made it look effortless.
After gaining possession on the left side of the box, she took one dribble to get around her defender and scored. Hollaway’s fourth goal looked routine as well, as she put the ball past the keeper on the right side.
For Hollaway, it was business as usual against an overmatched opponent. It was more about scoring early so Murphy could play with less pressure and work on things for more competitive games next week against Hayesville and Smoky Mountain Conference leader Highlands.
“In our past games, we get off to a slow start because we’re trying to figure the team out,” Hollaway said. “But playing teams a second time we know how they work. It’s easier to get that going first and motivates the other players to work harder to get their goal in, too.”
Brownlee switched things up for the Lady Bulldogs in the second half, going to a 3-6-1 formation that she hopes to use in the future. The formation allowed Murphy to control the midfield and keep pressure on Cherokee (0-10, 0-8 conference).
The Lady Bulldogs were opportunistic in this game, though the coaching staff wanted to see a little better approach in the second half. Instead of just looking to go to the goal, they wanted to see the ball worked to the outside of the field and then crossed into the middle, which is a more traditional way to attack.
“We really just need to work on not playing a boot ball game where it’s back and forth booting the ball in the air,” Holloway said. “Just trying to get the ball on the ground more and two touches and taking our time and passing it really well. Because we can, we just have to focus.”
The Lady Bulldogs scored two more goals in the second half, with Hollaway scoring her fifth and Catalina Barreiro curling in a free kick from about five yards outside the left side of the box. The goal set off the most energy on the Murphy sideline on a blustery, chilly April day, when both teams were ready to go home and warm up as soon as the game ended.