MURFREESBORO - Greeneville soccer had no problem getting past Millington in the Class AA Quarterfinals with a dominant 6-0 win on Tuesday night in Murfreesboro.
“I’m just ecstatic right now,” Greene Devils Coach Jerry Graham said. “We’re just happy to see them accomplish one more step to their goal that they’ve got to be here Friday and be playing for that state championship.”
It was an easy night on the pitch for the Greene Devils. Their defense pitched another shutout and the offense carried out business as usual. Four different players scored in their victory.
“Coming out on this big field the one thing we want to do is use that speed to our advantage. We’ve got a lot of speed in different positions and I thought we did a good job of that,” Coach Graham stated.
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They advance to the semifinal round for the third-straight year. They’ll meet with MLK on Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. for a chance to play in the finals on Friday.
“They’ve never won one. They’ve never gotten past the semifinal round. Their hungry for their first state championship is what’s driving them right now,” Graham mentioned. “We’re playing a quality MLK team. They’re well coached, they possess really well, they have a high soccer IQ and you can tell by watching them play.”
Drew Shelton had been their spark plug all year and proved to be that again tonight with their first goal in the 12th minute. His free kick from slightly outside the box froze the keeper and landed in the upper right corner to hand them an early lead.
Their next goal came quickly after in the 13th minute. Spencer Robinson flicked a deflected ball back towards the netting and claimed their second goal in two minutes.
The Greene Devils thrived off deflections in the box and scored on another rebound in the 17th minute. Cooper Graham struck gold with another scoring play inside the box and increased their lead to 3-0.
It took a little while longer for Greeneville to see another ball hit the back of the net, but Josue Castillo cashed in with a rocket in the 34th minute.
Greeneville held a commanding 4-0 lead at the break.
The Devils earned a penalty kick early into the second half and Coach Graham chose Drew Shelton to take the shot. He didn’t disappoint and delivered his second goal of the contest.
Spencer Robinson added the cherry on top with a goal in the 55th minute.
Greeneville ran away with a 6-0 win.
The defense once again had a stellar night by eliminating any threat that came Tanner Myers’ way.
“Our back line is just doing a really good job. David Fisher, Conner Stayton, Cooper Graham, and Drew Hillyer, and Tanner Myers in the net. They’ve just done a really good job,” Graham expressed.
Drew Shelton and Spencer Robinson each scored a pair of goals. Cooper Graham and Josue Castillo were the other two goal scorers.
