Soccer Ads manage 1 win in Gatlinburg
GATLINBURG —- Farragut High School boys soccer head coach Ray Dover said his team learned from its stay at the recent Smoky Mountain Cup.
The Admirals went 1-2 at the event, which featured some of the top high school teams in the country. Farragut [9-2-1 starting the week] played three top schools from the Atlanta metro area.
“We want to play the best competition that we can,” Dover said. “We’ve always done it.
“Georgia is a month ahead of us in their high school season and they start their postseason in the next couple of weeks and those teams are already in playoff form.”
The Ads closed their stay in Sevier County Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 loss against Central Gwinnett in a hard-fought match.
Cannon Beuchley and Austin Bihlmeyer scored in that match for the Admirals.
“This was a good experience for us and that’s why we do it,” Dover said. “I was really proud of our guys for the way they played. They know that we were the only team in our district that was up there playing those three Atlanta metropolitan area teams.
“I talked to our captains. Our boys are focused and they have the right mindset coming out of the tournament. I told the guys that everything that we’ve done up to this point is just to get ready for what’s ahead for us. ... The boys have hit the reset button. As far as they’re concerned, our record is 0-0 right now.”
The Admirals picked up their lone tournament win on Friday when they edged Mill Creek, another top team from Atlanta, 2-1. Farragut got goals from Beuchley and Pablo Herrera. FHS senior goalkeeper Mitchell White also stopped a penalty kick.
The Ads opened the tournament Thursday, April 6, against Brookwood. FHS suffered its first loss of the 2017 campaign.
“They were a tough, tough team,” Dover said. “I’ve been here for two years and they’re probably the best team that we’ve faced since I’ve been here.
“But we were the only team who scored on them.”
Farragut, which got a pair of markers from sophomore Wes Jeter, led Brookwood 1-0 at halftime. “I was proud of our guys in that game,” Dover said. “We led 1-0 at halftime and then they came back and went up 2-1 and we equalized it. And they got the game-winner. But we had two chances late, so I was really proud of our guys.”
