Murphy – Murphy junior Lailee Holloway led the way for local soccer all-conference selections, as she was named Smoky Mountain Conference Player of the Year. Holloway served as the team’s striker and was their best offensive weapon, scoring a team-high 23 goals, adding six assists and 61 steals.
She was always at the top of opposing team’s game plans, but that didn’t stop her from scoring more than half of the Lady Bulldogs goals this season. This is Holloway’s third all-conference selection, and she was all-conference in basketball this winter. The awards didn’t stop there for Holloway, as she was named to the North Carolina Soccer Coaches Association 1A West All-Region team, as well as the 1A All-State team. She’s just the third girls soccer player in Murphy history to be named to the all-state team.
Joining Holloway on the all-conference list were senior Catalina Barreiro and junior Emma Ledford, while freshmen Leah Beebe and Kaydence Walton were named honorable mention. Barreiro, Ledford, Beebe and Walton joined Holloway as members of the 1A West All-Region team.
Barreiro has been a starter for Murphy for the past three years, either playing on the backline as a defender or in the midfield. This year she played mostly in the midfield, switching between an attacking and defensive midfield role as the Lady Bulldogs dealt with some injuries throughout the season. She scored 11 goals, had three assists and 119 steals while starting every game.
Ledford saw some time in the field but played goalie for the first time this year, becoming Murphy’s main keeper. She spent 920 minutes in goal, which was just over 74 percent of the total minutes the Lady Bulldogs played this spring, and made 68 saves.
Beebe played a key role in the Bulldogs defense, appearing in every game and rarely leaving the field. She chipped in one assist and had 107 steals. Walton carved out a role as a midfielder, contributing three goals and three assists while tying Barreiro for the team-high in steals with 119. The duo impressed head coach Kim Brownlee with how they acclimated so quickly to the varsity level.
Murphy finished this year 7-7-2 overall and finished third in the conference with a 6-5-1 record. The Lady Bulldogs fell to South Davidson (11-7-2) in the first round of the state playoffs, 1-0. South Davidson would go on to beat Cherokee (7-11-2) 3-0 in the second round before falling 10-0 to Bishop McGuinness (20-3) in the third round.
Also being named all-conference was Tri-County Early College’s Emma Smith, who was a bright spot on a winless Lady Jaguars team.