Highlands – For more than 900 minutes of varsity soccer, the Murphy Bulldogs have held 11 consecutive opponents scoreless. That unfortunately ended on Oct. 15 when they lost 2-1 to Highlands, suffering their first Smoky Mountain Conference loss of the season.
Tyler Payne got the scoring started for Murphy (12-3-1) with a goal in the first half. His goal gave the Dogs a 1-0 at halftime.
Murphy maintained the 1-0 lead until about 15 minutes left in regulation. The Dogs then fouled a Highlands player in the box, resulting in a penalty kick.
Highlands (8-2-1) scored on the penalty kick to tie the match 1-1 and end Murphy’s shutout streak.
At the end of 80 minutes, the match was still tied so they headed to overtime. On a corner kick, Highlands found the back of the net to take a 2-1 lead.
The score stood at 2-1 at the end of overtime and Highlands got the win, also ending Murphy’s 10-game win streak.
Murphy fell one game short of tying the North Carolina record for most consecutive shutouts. That record stands at 12 straight shutouts held by Hickory, New Bern and North Mecklenburg. North Mecklenburg was the most recent school to record 12 straight shutouts in 2001.
On Monday, the Dogs were on the road again as they faced Summit Charter (7-4).
In their first matchup this season, Murphy won 3-0 at home. In Monday’s match, Murphy defeated Summit Charter 3-0.
Andrew White, Payne and Elijah Twiggs scored goals.
The Dogs will be back in action at 4 p.m. Monday on the road against Blue Ridge Early College. They will return home at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, for the regular-season finale against Hayesville.