Panther girls soccer is off to their best start in years.
After the Spring Break holiday, the team returned to action on the week of March 16, hosting nonconference matches with Enka and Polk. With a win and a tie, they improved their record to 3-0-1.
On March 18, the Panthers welcomed Enka to Macon Middle School, where the home team controlled possession early on. Despite near-misses from Lilly Tux and Jessica Hernandez, neither team could break the deadlock before the half.
Franklin kept attacking after the break, creating several more chances to start the second half. In the 57th minute Lana Walker finally broke through, corralling a loose ball inside Enka’s 18-yard box and finding the inside of the left post.
Enka responded after Franklin’s go-ahead goal, bouncing a corner kick off Franklin’s far post and forcing multiple tough saves from Carramia Ramos. With six minutes to play the Jets received their best chance yet, drawing a foul inside Franklin’s box to earn a penalty kick. The shot missed however, and Franklin went on to win 1-0.
Two nights later the team returned to MMS to face a quality team in Polk. There both teams traded chances early on, with Ramos posting several tough saves.
In the 25th minute Franklin won a throw-in deep inside Polk’s half, where Bristol Brooks heaved the ball into the Wolverines’ box. There a Polk defender accidentally headed it backwards, where it bounced into the net for an own goal. Franklin defended their 1-0 lead until the half.
Polk responded 12 minutes after the break, winning a throw-in of their own deep in Franklin’s half. There a Wolverine heaved the ball into Franklin’s box, where her teammate headed it into the net.
Both teams traded chances throughout the rest of the match, including more saves from Ramos and near-misses from Tux and Brooks. Neither team were able to break the deadlock however, ending the match in a 1-1 tie.
“They’re good players. They’re a really good team, well-coached and very disciplined,” said head coach Sam Vargas of Polk after the match.
In tying the Wolverines, Franklin ended the week with a record of 3-0-1. Having outscored opponents 7-1 through their first four games, Vargas credited his team for their efforts so far.
“They’re coming into themselves,” he said. “They went undefeated in preseason for the first time since I remember. We went undefeated in that jamboree [at Enka Feb. 21] – we beat Hendersonville, Madison, and tied Smoky [Mountain]. We beat Swain, Rabun County; we beat Enka the other night, and we just tied Polk obviously, so two better opponents in the second [week of the regular season].”
“This was a good game. You want [the first part of the season] like this where they’re scrapping and fighting – not being belligerent, but learning to earn … I tell them every time we step on the field we’ve got to earn the right to play, and that’s what games like this are about – you earn the right to stay with these teams and prove that you can play.”
In four nonconference games to start the year, Franklin has turned in their best start to a campaign since 2020. After the team started 3-0 that year, the rest of that spring season was cancelled statewide due to COVID-19. They then went winless in 2021, and haven’t had a winning season since.
Since taking over a three-win team in 2023, Vargas has slowly remade the Panthers in his own image, doubling that total in each of his first two years. Now in his third year at the helm, he believes the team’s games will only get tougher from here.
“East [Henderson] and Brevard are two good opponents to start our conference play,” he said of Mountain Eight games March 23 and 26. “Brevard is really good. They are top-of-the-table in teams that we play.”