Smoky Cup
Tough weekend on Rocky Top . Chunn optimistic about Dragons’ future
Clinton’s Cristian Gutierrez advances the ball downfield against a tough Unicoi County defense during Smoky Mountain Cup play. (photo:Tony Cox )
He was right, as the Dragons are off to a 2-6-1 start this season after suffering through a tough weekend in the Smoky Mountain Cup matches Saturday and Sunday.
The weekend began with a 3-2 loss to Lee-Scott Academy (Auburn, Alabama) Saturday morning at Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg.
In that match, Osmar Vasquez and Angel Venegas scored for the Dragons.
Later on Saturday, the Dragons were shut out by Unicoi County.
Clinton was short-handed due to injuries in its tournament finale as it fell to West View (Jackson, Tennessee) 8-1 on Sunday.
The Dragons got their lone marker of the match from Christian Honeycutt.
Chunn was distraught after the tournament.
“We had a bad weekend,” he said. “We had a lot of injuries and we had four starters [who] didn’t even make the trip (Sunday).
“We literally played kids [who] hadn’t really played before.
“For the second half of our second game and for the whole game on Sunday, I had 10 freshmen and sophomores on the field, and those young guys are going to make up the team next year,” Chunn said. “So if you look at it, those guys will be pretty good over the next few years.”
The Dragons opened the week with a 3-1 victory over Harriman on Monday, April 1.
Julio Del Valle scored twice for Clinton against the Blue Devils and Will Targonski added a marker for the Dragons, who return to the pitch Friday night when they host Maryville Christian School.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.