Soccercats have a good tourney trip to Gatlinburg
Senior wing Sebastian Salas-Vaca makes an aggressive play for the ball during the first half of the Wildcats’ soccer match against Mt. Juliet High School at the Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg on Saturday night. The varsity Wildcats were 2-0 on the weekend beating Muskogee High School (Oklahoma) 7-1 on Friday night and Mt. Juliet High School 4-1 on Saturday. (photo:Tony Cox )
The varsity side, which opened its 2023 season with a 4-2 victory over Alcoa on Tuesday, March 14, posted victories over Muskogee (Oklahoma) and Mt. Juliet in two matches.
The Wildcats (3-0) opened tournament play on St. Patrick’s Day with a 7-1 victory over Muskogee.
Oak Ridge returned to the pitch Saturday and notched a 4-1 win over Mt. Juliet.
Eli Lynch had three goals in two matches for Oak Ridge. Emmett Lee tallied a pair of markers. Sebastian Salas-Vaca finished the tournament with a pair of goals and an assist. Daniel Vogt also scored twice and dished out a helper. Denny Flores scored while Sam Vogeley came up with three assists. Ayden Clemets also dished out an assist for the Wildcats, who return to the pitch Thursday night when they travel to play Region 2-AAA rival Hardin Valley Academy.
ORHS Coach Tom Gordon said he was pleased with his squad’s performance in Gatlinburg.
“It’s always really exciting to get the team away to play schools that we typically don’t get a chance to see,” Gorman said. “Anytime you can notch seven goals and 11 assists, from so many different guys has me really excited about our potential.”
JV team goes 1-0-1: ORHS’s JV side notched a 3-0 victory Smith County and a 0-0 draw over Beech.
Goalkeepers James Pennington and Jackson Grant each posted clean sheets.
Dreyton Keehn had a goal and an assist against Smith County Saturday. Nathan Kizerre and Adam Washington also had goals while Samir Calix dished out a helper.
“To have both teams go undefeated just adds to a great experience.”