All three Cherokee County high school soccer teams were in action last week, as Smoky Mountain Conference play is in full swing.
All three team were on the road on Sept. 16:
- Murphy (3-8) headed to Cashiers and defeated Blue Ridge Early College (4-4) 3-2.
- Andrews (1-2-1) fell to Swain County (5-5-1) 4-0.
- Tri-County Early College (1-6-1) lost 8-0 at Hayesville (2-3).
On Sept. 18, two of the three teams returned home:
- Andrews returned home and got their first win of the season against Cherokee (0-4) 7-0.
- Tri-County was on the road and lost 5-2 to Blue Ridge Early College.
- Murphy returned home and lost in overtime to Highlands (5-5), the top team in the conference.
Both teams had chances throughout the first half, but with 2:17 remaining, Highlands broke through on an odd man rush to score the first goal of the match. Highlands knocked in the rebound after the first shot went off Murphy’s goalkeeper Cale Harger.
Murphy scored the equalizer in the second half. Tyler Payne took a shot, and the ball found the back of the net after it ricocheted off a defender and caught the keeper off guard. A few minutes later, Highlands’ coach received a yellow card for disagreeing with some of the referee’s calls.
Time expired in regulation to send the 1-1 match to extra time, where they play two 10-minute halves. With 2:25 remaining in the first overtime half, Highlands got a free kick. They took the shot and Harger blocked it, but Highlands knocked in the rebound to take a 2-1 lead.
Murphy had multiple scoring chances late, but could not convert them into a goal. As time expired in the second overtime half, Highlands blocked a shot and the referee signaled for a corner kick, but the Highlands keeper held the ball despite looking at the referee signaling for the corner kick.
The referee’s decision to not stop the clock and let Murphy take the corner kick took away their last chance at tying the match.
Today, Tri-County will take on Murphy for a 6 p.m. game, while Andrews will head across county lines to take on Hayesville at 4 p.m. On Thursday, Andrews will host Blue Ridge Early College at 6 p.m. On Friday, Tri-County will hit the road and head to Cashiers to take on Summit Charter for their last non-conference match