Lady Mavs boot Red Devils in 5-4 win
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Anderson County’s Emma Leander has seven goals for the Lady Mavericks in the first three games of the 2024 season. - Tony Cox
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Anderson County’s Roxana Aguilar blocks a Kingston defender on an inbound pass during the Lady Mavericks’ home game on Tuesday, Aug. 13. - Tony Cox
The 2024 girls’ high school soccer season has just begun, and Anderson County has already faced more than its share of adversity, despite playing only three games.
“We’re dealing with several injuries right now,” ACHS Coach Chris Curtin said.
The Lady Mavericks (1-2) concluded the first week of the new season with a 5-4 victory at Knoxville Halls on Thursday night.
Senior Emma Leander notched a hat trick for Anderson County and also posted an assist in the match.
Freshman Delila Colby contributed a pair of goals against the Lady Devils in North Knox County. Zoey Rose was also credited with an assist on Thursday.
The Lady Mavs opened the season on the road against Powell, suffering a 7-2 loss to the Lady Panthers on the west end of Emory Road on Monday, Aug. 12.
Leander scored both goals for Anderson County, with Colby assisting on one of them.
In the home opener on Tuesday, Aug. 13, Anderson County fell 2-1 to Kingston, despite a goal from Leander, assisted by Olivia Madron.
“Kingston did a good job, and their coach told me that that was probably the best game they had played,” Curtin said. “It certainly wasn’t our best game.
“Powell has a good team, and it was nice to get that game at Halls,” she said.
With the victory over the Lady Devils, ACHS gained some momentum heading into what may be their toughest week.
The Lady Mavericks made a third trip to Knoxville on Tuesday night to play Webb School of Knoxville, one of the area’s top teams. Results were not available at press time, but Curtin noted that the Lady Spartans would provide his team with its biggest challenge.
ACHS and Webb played in the KIL Jamboree last month, where the Lady Spartans won 2-0 in a 25-minute match.
“Webb is probably the best team that we’ll see all year,” Curtin said.
This weekend, the Lady Mavericks will head to Gatlinburg to compete in the Smoky Mountain Cup. They won their bracket in 2023.
Anderson County will play two matches on Saturday, opening against Cleveland at 10:50 a.m. before playing Knoxville Catholic at 8 p.m. The Lady Mavs will close the tournament against Livingston Academy on Sunday at 12:45 p.m.
“We won the Smoky Mountain Cup last year, and I’d like to see that again, but I don’t know if we can with all of our injuries,” Curtin said. “We’ll just take those games as they come and see what happens.”