Murphy – It was almost a full 80-minute effort for Murphy boys’ soccer on Sept. 14 against Blue Ridge Early College.
After conceding a goal with 6:15 remaining in the first half, the Bulldogs continued to withstand the Bobcats pressure for the first 70 minutes of the contest. But the dam broke in the final 10 minutes as Blue Ridge added three late goals, finally breaking through in a 4-0 loss for Murphy.
“All but about 10 minutes we played pretty solid,” head coach Justin Butler said. “Especially at the end as they got tired, their youth showed. Got a little quiet, got a little stagnant, started getting out of position and they got punished for it with three quick goals.”
The Bobcats (2-2 overall, 2-0 Smoky Mountain Conference) dominated possession against the Bulldogs (2-4, 1-2), constantly attacking Murphy’s backline. It was reminiscent of what Pisgah did to Murphy in the Bulldogs’ home opener, though this time Murphy was much better prepared.
The Bulldogs’ backline stood tall for much of the first half, not allowing many great looks on goal. Blue Ridge was able to get some runners free in the box, but could not time the crosses to get point-blank opportunities on net.
Constant pressure, though, leads to constant opportunities, which is how the Bobcats broke through in the first half. Murphy goalie Cale Harger came out to the top of his goalie box to try to play the ball, but Blue Ridge’s Braulio Iglesias Loma kicked the ball straight over his head and it bounced into the goal before Harger could recover.
Prior to that, the Bobcats had four corner kicks in the first half, including one in the 31st minute, when Harger saved a shot from Ashtin Zachary.
With Blue Ridge controlling possession, the Bulldogs struggled to get quality chances. They had a free kick go wide after the Bobcats’ first goal in the first half, then another free kick from about 30 yards out went wide 12 minutes into the second half.
Meanwhile, Blue Ridge was relentless in looking for its second goal. They had three failed corner kicks before breaking through in the 67th minute, as well as multiple other shots go high.
Murphy started to tire from playing constant defense, and junior Soriano Diaz doubled Blue Ridge’s lead after the Bulldogs failed to clear a ball from the box. Isaiah Palestino followed by deflecting a corner kick into the goal in the 70th minute, then Jeysson Soriano Diaz had a header off a throw in for the Bobcats’ final goal of the night.
“It was tired and frustration,” Butler said. “Playing a defensive game for 80 minutes is tough. It’s tough mentally, it’s tough physically. I think what you saw was, as you started getting tired, things started breaking down.”
It was another learning experience for a young Murphy team, which has mostly freshmen and older players who don’t have a ton of experience after the Bulldogs didn’t field a team last year. Murphy did pick up its first conference win on Sept. 12 with a 3-1 win at Cherokee.
With Andrews and Tri-County both fielding teams this year, along with the five other teams in the Smoky Mountain Conference from last year, the Bulldogs will have plenty more opportunities this year to test themselves and continue to grow.
“We got a good big conference this year, and they’re going to be in a fight every game,” Butler said. “And so as they keep having to dig and realize what they’re capable of, and I think that’s what we saw tonight.”