Injury-riddled Lady Mavs show grit at Smoky Mountain Cup
Anderson County’s Bralee Hall moves the ball past Livingston Academy’s Mallori Lindsay during Sunday’s Smoky Mountain Cup match. (photo:Tony Cox )
Playing some of Tennessee’s top teams would have been a challenge even with a full roster, but the injury-plagued Lady Mavericks were further tested by their depleted lineup.
ACHS (2-5) scored just one goal in four matches, but that lone marker was enough to earn a victory against Cleveland.
The Lady Mavericks defeated Cleveland to open their participation in the Smoky Mountain Cup at the Rocky Top Sports Complex in Gatlinburg on Saturday morning.
Zoey Rose scored the only goal of the match against the Lady Raiders, despite battling through injury.
Rose, along with fellow seniors Emily Martin and Emma Leander, sustained injuries over the weekend, yet the Lady Mavericks continued to fight.
“Hopefully, this week will be better,” Lady Mavericks Coach Chris Curtin said. “The game against Cleveland was a good game. I was really pleased. It wasn’t really a physical game. It was a fast-paced game, and they played hard. You could tell they wanted to win really badly.”
Following the victory over Cleveland, the Lady Mavericks returned to the pitch Saturday night and dropped a 3-0 decision to Knoxville Catholic.
“Catholic is a good team, and they have a lot of depth,” Curtin said. “About every six or seven minutes, they subbed in two or three players.”
On Sunday, Anderson County lost 5-0 to Livingston Academy.
“I thought Catholic was the better team compared to Livingston Academy,” Curtin said. “We held Catholic to three goals, and Livingston scored five against us, but one of those was a penalty kick.”
ACHS opened the week in West Knoxville, where it fell to Webb School of Knoxville 7-0 on Tuesday, Aug. 20. The Lady Spartans were 4-0 at press time.
The Lady Mavericks played Oneida on Tuesday, but results were not available at press time. Anderson County has added a match and will play at Morristown East on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.