Murphy – One week after Murphy and Tri-County met on the soccer field for the first time ever, the Bulldogs clashed with Andrews on Oct. 3 for the first time in five years.
“What the (Andrews) coach and I were talking about before the game,” Murphy head coach Justin Butler said, “is how great it is to have three teams in Cherokee right now. That’s massive. They’re young teams, building experience. It’s awesome to see them out there and playing.”
For Wildcats head coach Pat Santora, the goal this year is to try to build a foundation for the future. Andrews has no seniors, and the team is mostly made up of freshmen and sophomores. Joshua Hernandez, O’Malley Salinas and Elvin Trigueros are the Wildcats’ most talented players, with skills to compete on any team in the Smoky Mountain Conference.
That trio can create their own chances, though Santora’s goal for the team as a whole is a little more simple. He wants them to play together; and maintain their shape, formation and spacing while being patient when moving the ball. That can be a challenge, especially on a team with only two substitutes.
Though Murphy (4-5-1 overall, 3-3-1 conference) didn’t go deep into its bench in this game, it was able to get a few players off the bench in the second half for some fresh legs. That was part of the reason the Bulldogs were able to turn a 1-0 halftime lead into a 6-1 win.
“We were pretty good there for the first half, and actually we were pretty good into the beginning of the second half,” Santora said. “The thing is, we have no substitutes.”
Murphy’s Jerry Bui blasted a goal from outside the box just two minutes into the game, and the Bulldogs had multiple quality runs in the first half but came up empty. Hernandez tied the game up with a goal for Andrews (0-5, 0-5) nine minutes into the second half before goals by Sam Lewis and Bui in the next two minutes gave Murphy a 3-1 lead. Bui had another in the second half to complete the hat trick, and Mann Barot and Tyler Payne also scored in the second half.
Butler made a tactical adjustment in the second half that started to pay off after Andrews tied the game. He saw the Wildcats were forcing a lot of Murphy’s offense to the middle of the field, so he added an extra midfielder to change the formation from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 (defense-midfielder-forward).
That allowed offensive-minded midfielders in Barot and Bui to be more confident and stay outside, stretching the Andrews defense. It was the game plan Murphy had going into the game, pushing the Wildcats out to reduce clutter inside the box. That play is something Butler hopes his team takes into the second half of conference play.