Tri-County defeats Cherokee on road; Murphy suffers losses to Swain, Highlands
Murphy and Tri-County Early College’s girls soccer teams wrapped up the conference schedule as the regular season comes to a close.
The Bulldogs ended conference play with a loss to Highlands at home, while Tri-County defeated to Cherokee on the road to end the season.
Murphy
The Lady Dogs started their week with a match against Swain County on Thursday where they lost a close battle 2-1.
The Lady Dogs scored first as Leah Beebe found the back of the net 24 minutes into the match. The lead didn’t last long as Swain tied it up two minutes later.
The match was tied until 10 minutes into the second half when Swain took a 2-1 lead. The match stayed at 2-1 until the final whistle and Swain won the match.
Haile Hill led the team in steals with 13 and Kaydence Walton had 11 steals. Ella Conley and Addison Peterson had seven steals each.
Goalkeeper Ella Howard made six saves and two goals against. She also had a steal.
On Monday, the Lady Dogs took on Highlands for their final conference game of the regular season.
The Lady Dogs fell to Highlands 3-0. With the loss, Murphy’s second place in the Smoky Mountain Conference is in jeopardy.
The first goal of the match was scored by Highlands with 12:25 left in the first half. The first half was a physical, gritty 40 minutes of soccer. That play style continued into the second half when Highlands extended their lead.
Less than eight minutes into the second half, Highlands notched their second goal of the match to pull further away. Murphy had multiple scoring chances, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
With one second left in the match, Highlands scored their third goal in a buzzer beater just before time expired in the match.
The Lady Dogs finished conference play with a 9-3 record. They sit in second place and await the result of Highland’s match against Blue Ridge Early College on Thursday. Highlands sits at 8-3 in the SMC.
After the match, the Lady Dogs honored senior players Isabel Parker and Faith Lescalleet, as well as senior manager Madison Stiles.
Today, they will face Franklin on the road at 7 p.m. in their season finale.
Girls soccer playoff seeding is Friday and the first round of the playoffs is Monday. At the Cherokee Scout’s press time Tuesday, Murphy sits at No. 15 in the RPI standings.
Tri-County Early College
The Lady Jaguars took on Swain and Highlands and fell in both games. First up was Swain where the Lady Jaguars fell 9-0 on April 29.
Then they faced Highlands in their final regular season home game on Thursday. The Lady Jaguars got on the scoreboard, but the Lady Highlanders got the 5-1 win.
On Monday, they traveled to Cherokee to take on the Lady Braves in their final game of the season. Tri-County defeated Cherokee 2-1 for their second win of the season.
They finished the season with a 2-10-1 overall record and went 2-9-1 in the Smoky Mountain Conference.