Gilmer High opened its soccer season under treacherous conditions.
The GHS Bobcats and Lady Cats were in Fannin County last Friday. With a wind chill in the low 20s and snow accumulation during the boys contest, only one and a half matches were played.
The girls were up first and Fannin notched a 7-1 win. The Bobcats took a 2-0 lead into the half before the match was called because of unplayable conditions.
“The weather was horrible, and even by English standards, it was rough,” said Bobcats’ head coach Simon Phipps.
“The cold weather definitely affected our play,” Lady Cats’ head coach April Nicholson noted. “We started off slow, and we never recovered. Fannin found our weaknesses and was quickly able to attack those. We had a couple of girls playing out of position, but we were able to make some second-half adjustments.”
Freshman Yenifer Lopez netted the Cats’ lone goal in the second half.
“Our scrimmage game got canceled last Friday due to inclement weather, so this was really the first time this varsity group has played together,” Nicholson said. “It definitely gave us some things to work on this week before we take on Pickens Friday.”
Julien Withrow scored the Bobcats’ first goal of the season after some crisp passing inside Fannin’s 18-yard box. Fellow senior Domingo Reynoso-Loarca claimed the second goal following a corner kick.
There are 42 players in the boys program, and they only lost two seniors off last season’s state tournament team.
“We have a lot of boys returning from last year, and we only graduated two seniors who played regularly on the varsity team, so we are in pretty decent shape,” Phipps said. “We have also had a lot of freshmen join us this year, which will obviously help us in the future.
“We have a lot of the pieces that we need to make a good run this year; however we need to keep everyone fit and make sure that we are focused in those region games that we know from last year are going to be very competitive.”
A week prior, the junior varsity Bobcats lost to North Murray, 1-0.
The JV Lady Cats were victorious over NMHS, 4-0. Goals were scored by Lady Cats Faith Goodwin, Yessica Tercero, Yenifer Lopez and Sophia Lykins.
“The younger girls got a lot of playing time, and Coach Josh Fountain and I saw a lot of positives. The future looks bright for Lady Cat soccer in Gilmer County,” said Nicholson.