Oak Ridge soccer celebrates 40th year with win over Karns
Oak Ridge High School’s girls soccer program celebrated a milestone anniversary Thursday night with a District 3-AAA victory.
The Lady Wildcats, who first fielded a team in 1982, celebrated their 40th year of competition by defeating Karns 4-1.
“We had some alumni there and we celebrated our 40th anniversary,” Oak Ridge Coach Donnie Green said.
“We had players there from the ’80s up to today.”
The dominant victory over the Lady Beavers, Oak Ridge’s longtime league rival, made things festive.
The Lady Wildcats, who host defending district champion Powell on Thursday, fired 25 shots on goal and had the ball in their attacking end of the field throughout 90 percent of the match, Green said.
Hayven Laurendine gave the Lady ’Cats a 1-0 lead when she scored a goal in the third minute.
Oak Ridge extended its advantage to 2-0 when Brooklyn Henderson tallied in the 17th minute.
Aniya Fisher, who had a hand in all three of the Lady Wildcats’ markers, scored their final goal of the match.
She also had a pair of assists. Her goal was assisted by Henderson.
The win came approximately 48 hours after Oak Ridge (5-3 overall, 3-1 in the district) dropped a 2-1 decision to Lakeway Christian on Tuesday, Sept. 6.
That loss left Green extremely frustrated.
“We came in there and we had an attitude,” he said.
“They just thought that this was a private school and they were going to win.
“We didn’t have any energy when we got off the bus. We didn’t have energy when we were warming up and we goofed off when we warmed up.
“They (Lakeway) had 14 players, but they had heart. They had heart and we had an attitude. Our passes didn’t connect, and if it could go wrong, it did.”
Wednesday’s practice brought the Lady Wildcats a harsh dose of reality.
“We had a come-to-Jesus meeting,” Green said. “At practice, I asked them if they wanted me to tell them what they wanted to hear, or tell them what they needed to hear.”
The team opted for the latter and Green didn’t hold back after staying awake until 1:30 a.m. after losing to the Lady Lions.