Farragut finds shooting touch
Throughout much of the 2016 season, Farragut High School’s boys soccer team has had trouble getting the ball to land in the back of opposing nets.
But the scoring drought came to an end Friday night for the Admirals. And the subsequent result was a 6-1 victory over Cookeville on a damp and chilly night at the Farragut Soccer Stadium Friday, April 22.
On this night, FHS dedicated the match to the memory of Farragut High School senior Taylor Corum, who died recently from injuries suffered in a car accident.
After a moment of silence for a fallen classmate, the Admirals (9-2-3) went to work and scored four goals in under six minutes against the Cavaliers (7-4-2).
Senior Alex Shupp, a senior and Xavier signee, opened the scoring with an unassisted marker in the second minute.
“It was nice to come out and score early,” Shupp said. “We haven’t been finishing.
“It was nice to come out and finish. We had four goals in like five or six minutes and that was great for us.”
There was a chill in the air but Farragut’s offense warmed up early and stayed hot throughout the early stages of the match.
The Admirals took a 2-0 lead when Brad Baker tallied an unassisted marker in the fourth minute.
Senior forward and University of Pennsylvania signee Dami Omitaomu made it 3-0 a short time later. Austin Bihlmeyer was credited with an assist on the Admirals’ third goal.
Farragut would add another goal when Zach Humphries took a pass from Baker and promptly banged the ball into the Cookeville net to make the score 4-0 in the sixth minute.
“I looked up and I saw Dami and then Brad came down with the ball and I hit it,” Humphries said of the goal. “I hit it and I knew that I was going to score.
“I knew it was going in.”
Farragut first-year coach Ray Dover was pleased that his team finally appeared to find its shooting touch against the Cavaliers. Cookeville is one of the top teams in its region.
“They’ll make the state tournament,” Dover said of the Cavaliers. “They’re a very good team and they’re a ranked opponent. These are the kinds of teams that you want to play.
“I always want to play teams like this and it was good for us to score some goals. The goals came tonight and that was good for us, especially against a state-ranked opponent like this one.
The Cavaliers got on the board when sophomore forward Ryan Lombardo got the ball past Farragut goalkeeper Eli Lewis and into the back of the Admirals’ net in the 37th minute to make the score 4-1.
Lombardo’s marker represented the final scoring in the opening 40 minutes.
The Admirals added two more goals after halftime. The makers came late in the match.
Bihlmeyer made it 5-1 with his goal in the 73rd minute. Zachary Shopovick picked up an assist on that marker. Farragut, which outshot the Cavaliers 14-5 in the match, got its final goal of the game from Rivaldo Hill in the 75th minute. Baker picked up his second assist of the game on the final goal.
Cookeville coach Sam Matson left immediately after the game was not available for comment.
