The Gilmer Lady Cats suffered a pair of soccer losses last week.
GHS was at home Monday against the North Murray Mountaineers. The marathon game resulted with a needed overtime and penalty kicks and NMHS earned the win.
Gilmer was on the road four days later and returned to region action versus the North Hall Trojans. The Cats fell behind by two goals at the half and North Hall extended its advantage to 5-1 by game’s end.
“We were missing senior Naomi Coombs this game so we had to rework our lineup. Anna Byrd moved up from her usual spot in the defense to the midfield, and she did a great job working the ball around,” head coach April Nicholson said of the North Murray game.
“Unfortunately, we had some sloppy touches, especially in the first half, and of the 10 shots we took on goal, only two got past their keeper.”
Another lineup change came with the addition of Brooke Wilson, who recently joined the team after basketball season. She took the field in goal, which allowed Reagan Boling to play forward.
Boling put GHS on the board two minutes into the game, and NMHS was able to even the score at 1-1 by halftime. Boling was at it again with another goal after seven minutes of play into the second half.
The Mountaineers tied the score once more, which remained at 2-2 at the end of regulation.
A pair of 10-minute overtime periods were played, but the score remained unchanged. Each team then received five penalty kicks, but neither gained an edge. The game then went into “sudden victory” where the first unanswered penalty was enough to declare a winner.
North Murray eventually gained the edge needed to claim the win.
Next up was North Hall, and the Trojans were able to take an early lead they did not relinquish.
“They are a really strong team, well-coached and are currently 2-0 in the region,” Nicholson said. “Our passing game was really strong, with just over 70 percent of them being successful.
“We have to get better at taking shots on goal. We have a tendency of holding the ball too long, and that is affecting our gameplay.”
North Hall took a 3-0 lead in the first half.
The Lady Cats had 13 shots over the course of the game and six were on target. One of those came off the foot of Ashley Spagnola near the end of the first half to cut the deficit to 3-1 by the break.
The Trojans were able to score two more goals over the final 40 minutes of play to secure another region victory.
“In practice, we are working more on getting shots off quicker, so hopefully, that will transition to games,” Nicholson said.
“Wilson played a great game in goal, blocking eight shots, including one North Hall penalty kick. Cadence Smith and Boling did a great job in defense making North Hall earn every goal.”
GHS is 2-4 overall and travels to Cherokee Bluff Wednesday.