Murphy – With more time together as a group, the Murphy girls soccer team is starting to come together.
After three losses to open the 2023 campaign, the Lady Bulldogs had won four games in a row entering Monday’s contest against Smoky Mountain. All four wins came against conference competition, including a 2-1 win at Blue Ridge on March 20 and a 3-0 win against Hayesville three days later.
For head coach Kim Brownlee, just having more time together has allowed her to figure out where certain kids need to play, along with which lineups put the team in the best position to succeed. As she gets more video, she can further fine-tune and tweak things.
“You can’t see all of that in just practices,” Brownlee said. “You almost have to see how they perform, how they execute the things you taught them, who’s able to figure out what you’re telling them and who struggles with it and where does that lead, where should they be on the pitch. I knew that was going to happen after the first couple of games, when I had time to study the film better.”
Going into the season, Brownlee thought junior Lailee Holloway would be needed on the midfield because her ball skills would help connect the back of the field to the front. She then realized the team was struggling to score goals and moved her to forward. She then moved senior Catalina Barreiro, who is a natural defender, to a central midfield position, which requires her to control possession and pass to teammates rather than just boot the ball down the field like she did as a defender.
It has been an adjustment, though one Brownlee was willing to make to have her top players involved further up the field while the other players continue to try to gel. Murphy (4-3 overall, 4-1 Smoky Mountain Conference) doesn’t have a ton of experience and will face more skilled teams at times this spring.
With a deficit there against some opponents, Brownlee said her team may have to learn from mistakes during the game, which isn’t always easy. But she likes what she’s seen from two freshmen in particular in Leah Beebe and Kaydence Walton, with Beebe starting to get the hang of how she needs to play defense and Walton helping control possession as a wide midfielder.
“I can’t imagine what both these freshmen are going to be like as juniors and seniors,” Brownlee said.
The Lady Bulldogs should continue to improve as the players and coaches get more familiar with each other, but it’s not always going to be linear. In the March 20 contest against Blue Ridge, Brownlee tweaked the team’s formation to put some better attacking players higher in the team’s formation, but it backfired as Murphy trailed 1-0 at halftime. The Lady Bulldogs would rally for a 2-1 win over the Lady Bobcats, though after watching the film after the game Brownlee realized her team wasn’t ready to implement those changes.
Murphy has several challenging games remaining, including two games left with conference title contender Swain County, home games against Rabun Gap, Ga., and Franklin along with a road trip to Highlands on Tuesday, April 18. The toughness and competitiveness is there, Brownlee said.
In soccer, that can be almost enough, as long as there’s just enough skill mixed in and trust in the way they need to play. It’s something the Lady Bulldogs are continuing to balance as they try to compete with better teams on their schedule.
“They’ve showed the grit,” Brownlee said. “The thing is, they’re gritty kids. The mentality is there. It just comes right down to their skills.”