Gilmer High kicked off its region soccer schedule last week against the No. 8 ranked White County Warriors.
GHS hosted the Warriors Wednesday, and WCHS broke the tie 10 minutes into the second half and held on for a 2-1 victory.
“In the first half, we looked like a team that has only played two games so far this year, one of which was a scrimmage and one that we won, 10-0,” said head coach Simon Phipps. “We need to get better at playing with the ball on the ground and stringing some passes together.
“We did a much better job of this in the second half. I think that both teams came to play and that made for a good contest. It was a very close game, and the result could have easily been a win for either side. As it turned out we lost, but it was close, really close.”
The first shot on goal came four minutes into the game when a Warrior free kick was met with a header that flew over the bar. GHS answered with a header by Julien Withrow eight minutes later that was also high.
However, GHS broke through just seconds later. Withrow received a centered pass from Nicholas Dean with plenty of room to maneuver and fired a shot into the back of the net from 20 yards out.
The Bobcats’ lead was short lived as WCHS scored the equalizing goal less than a minute and a half later.
Gilmer’s John Nix was sent to the bench with a yellow card 20 minutes before the half. Just moments later, a shot by Gilmer’s Tyler Jack sailed wide after hitting the post.
GHS had one more shot over the final 20 minutes of the half while the Warriors tallied six more. One missed the mark, and the other five were saved by Bobcat freshman goalkeeper Noah Turner.
Withrow’s free kick from 30 yards out shot over the bar four minutes into the second half. Six minutes later, a Warrior shot from the same distance allowed them to pull ahead, 2-1.
Seven minutes after the go-ahead goal, Bobcat Rickey Ambrocio’s shot from 12 yards away bounced off the far post. A Withrow shot was also wide in the half’s 24th minute. GHS appeared to even the score with a goal from Gabi Sanchez-Melo with 11 minutes to play, but he was ruled offside.
GHS was unable to tie the score over the remainder of the game. A Warrior was issued a yellow card with 4:30 on the clock as they held on to win.
“We had a couple of really good chances in the second half, and if those had been converted, it would have been a different game,” Phipps said. “This is going to be a hard region for us. We have played in Class 4A since I have been the head coach, and those are the teams we have become used to.”
GHS has a 1-1 overall record.