West soccer ties Knox Central in return from spring break

Hamblen County Schools were out last week for Spring Break and West coach Paul Holland said it showed as his team will need to knock some of the rust off they had against Central before they face traditional power Science Hill this Friday night.

“We were off for a week and have only trained for one day so I kind of expected this,” he said. “We have work to do to get ready for Science Hill and that will be a completely different game for us.”

The Bobcats struck first midway through the first half when Michael Mibruro scored on a shot that looked dead in front of the net but somehow squirted out for the senior forward to kick it in. Central maintained its 1-nil advantage until Christian Holland got past the Bobcats’ defense and blasted in a shot from the left side to knot the score at 1-1, Holland’s eighth goal of the year. That was the way things stood at the half.

West (4-0-2) came out aggressive to start the second half and maintained the momentum throughout the rest of the contest. The Trojans had some excellent looks including one shot that barely nicked the top left hand corner of the goal which look like a sure goal on the attempt. For the match, West out-shot Central 15-5 but could not get one of its attempts in the second half of play to trickle in.

“That’s the game,” Holland said of the multiple chances the Trojans had to score the game winner in the second half. “That’s soccer sometimes and it’s just the way it goes. You have to keep pushing and our guys know that. I don’t care if takes to the last minute of the game, you have to fight. But some nights, you are going to hit the post or the keeper is going to make an incredible save so that is the way soccer goes.”

The Trojans will have a busy weekend as they will play three matches in two days, starting with Friday’s tilt with the Hilltoppers at Burke-Toney Stadium.

“Science Hill will be a good test for us as they will probably be the best team we have played this far,” Holland said. “We will forget about this one and get ready for them and then we have Hardin Valley and Webb at a tournament this weekend so there are some big games ahead of us.”

Greeneville 7,

Morristown East 1

GREENEVILLE — Morristown East was no match for the defending Class AA state champions in their own backyard, falling 7-1 to the Greene Devils on Thursday night.

Gustavo Castillo scored the lone goal for the Hurricanes (3-2-2), bringing his season total to three.

East visits South-Doyle for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Thursday.