Tuesday August 17th the Lady Owls Soccer team hosted White County for the home opener. Smith County is coming back from a very successful 2020 season and despite the toughest schedule to date are ready to battle to the top in 2021. It only took five minutes before Freshman Aubrey Felice battled off two defenders at the corner of the box to fire a rocket into the net. The White County goalie was fully aware she had work before her in this game. With 27 minutes on the clock we saw the teamwork Smith County exudes. Sophomore Brooklyn Sensabaugh took over the ball on a pass from Gracie Green. She then dealt with a White County defender in the corner to set up her shot.
Sensabaugh sent the ball flying across the net, it hit the keeper bounced forward where Brianna Solomon flew in to finish the Lady Owls up 2-0. It would only take another eight minutes before Brooklyn Sensabaugh would be set up by Aubrey Felice to take a shot from the edge of the box to send the keeper flying only to see the ball hit the back of her net. Sensabaugh scores, Felice assists, Smith County 3-0. The Lady Owls did not let up, keeping most of the possession and Senior Goalie Anna Vining not seeing much action. With less than three minutes in the half Kiley Jenkins would carry the ball back into White County territory where Sensabaugh would hold her own, then fire. The ball hit the second defender and continued on it’s path past the keeper, giving Smith County it’s fourth goal. They were not quite done with the half because Aubrey Felice would bring the ball within the feet of the goal being covered by two White County players and the Keeper in front of them. The ball comes loose just long enough for Chelsae Litton to catch a foot on it and send it over everyone to score with only 40 seconds to spare. Ending the half with Smith County 5 and White County 0. The only score in the second half came at the 27 minute mark when Aubrey Felice shot across from the right side and recovered by Chelsae Litton on the Left side who landed the ball securely in the back corner. SC 6- White County 0. Solid start to the season. Looking for a continuation of the wins into Thursday’s match against Dekalb County.
Thursday August 19 the Lady Owls hosted Dekalb County. Dekalb County is a solid team with a very good goalkeeper, who would be put through her paces for this game. There were many chances made, many shots that just went off by a tad but with less than seven minutes in the first half it began. Kiley Jenkins took a corner kick for Smith County. An all out battle took place at the mouth of the goal when finally Senior Lizzie Harper landed the ball into the back of the net. Five minutes later Harper would make a pass to Freshman Aubrey Felice who would then rocket in the second goal of the night putting Smith County up 2-0 going into the half. The second half saw a lot of back and forth on possession. The Lady Owls did a great job of protecting their end while having some well set up attacks on Dekalb’s net. It would be at the 18 minute mark that Senior Biz Davis would send one flying that was targeted for the back corner but defender error on Dekalb’s part ensured it entered the net before it hit the spot. That put Smith County up 3-0 and would be the final score. The teams followed the varsity game with a jv game. This game would go Dekalb’s way 2-0 but we witnessed so much potential in the younger players. There is a lot of raw talent and it will be fun watching them develop as a unit. Next game is Tuesday August 24 on the road at Upperman.
