Murphy – In their home opener, the Murphy girls soccer team fell to a tough Summit Charter squad 2-1.
The Lady Dogs struck first on March 11, as Halie Hill put the Dogs up early in the match. Almost halfway through the half, Summit scored the equalizer.
With just over 11 minutes left in the first half, Summit struck again to take a 2-1 lead. The remainder of the first half was back and forth, with bursts of offense from both sides.
The second half was 40 scoreless minutes. Murphy came close on multiple occasions, but couldn’t effectively break through Summit’s backline defenders to set up a goal.
Murphy goalkeeper Ella Howard, in her first start, made a big save early in the second half to keep it a one-goal match.
Brooklyn Johnson had an assist on Hill’s first half goal. Tina Bui led the team with nine steals. Johnson had eight steals, Hill had seven, Kaydence Walton had five and Isabel Parker, Shyla Coleman and Deserae Zenobi all had four steals each.
Howard made four saves on six shots in the match against Summit.
On Thursday afternoon, the Lady Dogs traveled to Cashiers to take on Blue Ridge Early College.
The Lady Dogs got out to an early 2-0 lead, but then lighting strikes in the area led to the game being rescheduled.
Murphy will host its third conference opponent of the season Blue Ridge Early College at 6 p.m. Friday. They will take on rivals Swain County at home at 6 p.m. Monday in what will likely be a close, heated match like it has been in years past.
To follow up their match against Swain, the Lady Dogs will face another rival Highlands on Thursday, March 27, on the road.