stone soccer

Members of the SMHS Lady Panther soccer team are, from left, front row, Meagan McCoy, Corin Harrelson, Brittany Green, Patricia Evans, Patty Jordan and Chelsea Holder; and second row, Coach Geir Bergvin, Whitleigh Sherrill, Jessica Williams, Kat Thompson, Brittany Wilson and Coach Pam Bergvin.

 Crossville Chronicle, Crossville, TN

It was a great day for the Stone Memorial High School Lady Panthers soccer team on Oct. 18, as they defeated Oneida 1-0 in the opening round of the District 2A/AA Tournament. This was the first-ever tournament win for the team.

Injury and illness left the Lady Panthers traveling to Oneida for a first round district tournament match with only 10 players. So, beginning the match down a player, the ladies knew that they would have to play tough. The shortage also necessitated that coach Geir Bergvin make some position changes and with junior Kat Thompson making the transition from forward to sweeper.

Junior Whitleigh Sherrill made her second start in goal, and senior co-captain Brittany Green moved to forward to head the offensive attack. In spite of the situation, they started the game being aggressive and pushing the pace which led to a goal by Green midway through the first

half, giving the Lady Panthers a 1-0 lead. Strong play in goal and from the defensive trio of Thompson, freshman Meagan McCoy and sophomore Corrin Harrelson held the line and let SMHS go into halftime with the lead.

To begin the second half, the ladies continued their strong play. With the midfield group of freshmen Patti Jordon and Patricia Evens and junior co-captains Chelsea Holder and Jessica Williams pushing the ball, and doing a wonderful job in transition to help limit the Oneida offensive.

Near misses by forwards Brittany Green and Brittany Wilson came as a result of the midfield pressure and helped to keep Oneida off balance and keep the SMHS spirits high.

As the second half wore on, the Lady Panthers may have tired, but they never gave up, continually fighting for every loose ball, closing on each offensive push by Oneida, and keeping Oneida from

getting the tying goal. In the end it took a tremendous collective, and group of individual efforts, but in spite of the adversity the Lady Panthers walked off the field with their first-ever district tournament win. Picking a player of the game in a case like this is next to impossible with so many excellent performances. It was a tough, hard fought, but well deserved 1-0 victory.

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