Junior, Biz Davis, winning a header challenge against Stone Memorial with Junior, Ally Hall watching on. 
8th grader, Aubrey Felice, trapping a ball surrounded by Lady Panthers
Submitted by Vivian Schaffers
The SCHS Soccer program has been highly anticipating the return of soccer to the pitch. The men’s team had their season lost to the pandemic and it was of great concern that the same thing would happen to the women’s team. When the TSSAA gave the green light for sports it was a very good day. It does come with conditions in order to keep everyone safe. Temperature checks will take place on entering the field, masks must be worn by all fans and of course social distancing are all part of the new normal. This is a small price to pay to allow these student athletes the ability to do what they love, in front of the people they love.
On Tuesday August 18th the Lady Owls hosted Stone Memorial for the season opener. The Lady Panthers are a very good team and have proven to be worthy opponents in the past. They were a strong challenge for the first game back from the break. Both teams had a lot of nerves coming into the competition, which is understandable after such a long time since getting to play and the uncertainty of the current environment and what it would look like to start up again.When the teams took the field you could feel the excitement and energy. From the starting whistle both teams came out fast and physical. The Lady Owls pushed hard and had several near misses on goal, alas it would be Stone Memorial who would strike first. With 28 minutes left on the clock in the first half the Lady Panthers made it a 1-0 game. Smith County rose to the challenge and stepped up their game and went to work on the task of answering that goal. They did just that with 12 minutes left on the clock. Gracie Green extracted the ball and made a beautiful pass down the pitch to Biz Davis. Davis who was double teamed by defenders sent the ball hard past the keeper into the back of the net to pull the game to a tied score. For the rest of the half it was an exciting battle but the score at the half would remain 1-1. When the game resumed in the second half neither team would give an inch. Both sides tested the Goalkeepers without result, both sides saw a yellow card, and both sides gave the fans quite a show. When the clock had seven minutes left the weather gave way and the game had to be called for lightning. So the refs put this one in the books at a tied score.
There was a lot to be proud of for your Lady Owls. They looked great, worked hard, and showed us a great foundation not only for this season but for the future. They have five Seniors this year but have brought in six Freshman and have two 8th graders from Gordonsville who are playing up this year. Plus the Junior and Sophomore classes both look strong, so there is a lot of depth to reach into and that is always a promising thing to have.
The next game day will be Thursday, August 27, vs Greenbrier. Varsity will kickoff at 6 PM and will be followed by a JV game. We hope to see you all there, masked up and full of SCP!!
