Panther women’s soccer has earned its first conference win.
After routing Mitchell 9-0 for their first win of the year, the team embarked on a three-match road trip March 7-17 before returning home on the week of March 24. In five total matches including their first four in the Mountain Seven, Franklin entered the heart of their conference schedule.
Following a Tuesday night win over Mitchell March 4, on Friday, March 7 they traveled to Enka for a nonconference match. There they ran into a quality Jet team, falling 3-0.
On Wednesday, March 12, the Panthers kicked off their conference schedule, traveling to East Henderson for a match with the Eagles. There they took an early lead, but couldn’t hold on.
“We went up two goals in the first half on them, and that was one of those games where we just weren’t all in, and we didn’t finish to the very end,” said head coach Sam Vargas. “They came back and tied us up, and we couldn’t overcome those mistakes. It was one of those things like, we dominated Swain [in Franklin’s season opener Feb. 24] – we went down 4-0 and came back with two goals, but we dominated the game with shots, possession, everything – same thing with East.”
While they did earn a 2-2 draw against the Eagles, the Panthers left East Flat Rock feeling they should have won. Five days later they traveled to Tuscola for another conference match, but fell 5-1 to the talented Mountaineers.
Following their long road trip, the team returned to Macon Middle School March 24 for a match with Pisgah. There the Black Bears built a promising attack less than six minutes in, slipping behind defenders and finding the net for the game’s first goal.
Franklin regrouped following the early setback, getting strong clears from right back Sadie Green and well-placed passes from Jessica Hernandez, Nevaeh Kimsey and Rylee Greene. With four minutes left in the half the ball bounced dangerously toward Franklin’s goal, but keeper Carramia Ramos beat Pisgah to it with a well-timed charge.
Ramos continued her strong match just after the break, making a spectacular double save just one minute in. Pisgah doubled their lead seven minutes later however, attacking up the right side and finding the far top corner of the net.
On the other end, Kimsey threatened Pisgah throughout the half, posting multiple near-misses including one that required a tough save from Pisgah’s keeper. With three minutes to play Alivia Clouse pressed up the left side, and sent a cross into Pisgah’s 18-yard box. There the ball bounced off a Black Bear defender for an own goal, but Pisgah defended their 2-1 lead to the final whistle.
“One of the things we talked about was that we had 27 shots and only one goal, and the one goal was an own goal,” said Vargas. “[Taking] 27 shots, dominating 80% of the game and losing 2-1 is tough. I think that was kind of the [straw] that broke the camel’s back – they were just tired of that being the outcome when we could be winning those games.”
Feeling they should have beaten East and at least tied Pisgah and Swain, the Panthers resolved to double their efforts from that point on. Two nights later they put their plan into practice, returning to MMS for a match with North Henderson.
The Panthers came out firing against the Knights, getting near-misses from Kimsey and Daisy Altamirano in the first 15 minutes. Franklin kept controlling possession throughout the first half, winning a throw-in deep in North’s half with six minutes left. There Sadie Greene found Bailey Wooten in the Knight box, who found the back of the net for the game’s first goal.
Franklin kept the pressure on North to start the second half, winning a free kick deep in North’s half just five minutes in. There Sadie Green delivered a beautiful strike, finding the net’s top left corner from 25 yards.
Thirteen minutes later Rylee Greene created another chance, finding Giselle Vallez with a short pass into the Knight box. From a difficult angle near the right corner flag, the sophomore challenged Sadie Green for the shot of the night, chipping the ball over North’s keeper’s head inside the far post.
Six minutes later Ramos collected a ball in her box, and booted a beautiful punt nearly 50 yards across midfield. Without being corralled, the ball kept bouncing over North’s heads, creating a breakaway chance for Wooten and Franklin’s fourth goal. Ramos added an excellent save near the top left corner of her net with 10 minutes to play to protect her clean sheet. The win improved Franklin’s record to 2-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the Mountain Seven, where they ended the week in fourth place.
“I saw a team that was tired of losing when they knew they could win,” said Vargas after the match. “That’s something we’ve been trying to harp on and get better at, and we’re playing at a level where we were at our top last year, but we’ve been unfortunate and unlucky in a couple games that have put us back. Our record’s not reflective of how we’re playing … I think the thing for us is coming together as a team.”
“I think tonight they really wanted it. In the first half we had one goal playing as individuals, and in the second half we decided we were going to play together as a team and be all in, and so we got three goals. We were really happy with different players playing different positions, being all in and being selfless, so I’m really happy for the way it turned out.”