Ringgold soccer squads beat Haralson County, fall to Bremen
The Ringgold Tigers and Lady Tigers were able to muster up a pair of Region 6-AAA wins at Haralson County this past Thursday.
Rachel Beard had two goals, while Addy Arrowood, Allie McAllister, Chloe Gray and Alex Van Alstine each solo goals, which contributed to a 6-1 Lady Tiger blowout victory
As for the Tigers, a hat trick by Garret Davis proved to be the difference as Ringgold notched a 3-2 win over the Rebels.
Looking to ride the momentum from Thursday, visiting Bremen thwarted any idea of a win steak Friday evening at Don Patterson Field.
The Lady Tigers lost 3-1, but the game was a lot closer than the actual score. Trailing Bremen up 2-1, Ringgold coach Greg Elkins said his team’s strategy was to push forward a little more than usual into the Blue Devil zone in an effort to get a goal back.
However, he said the push allowed his defense to get out of position, which propelled Bremen to score an easier goal in the 73rd minute on the flipside of the field.
“We tried to push up and tie the game up, and I think we were out of position on the third one,” Elkins said. “The third one didn’t hurt us as much, but we were just trying to get the goal back.”
Bremen’s Morgan Cashen scored two goals with one assist, while Abigail Till scored a goal of her own.
Lauren Corbin scored the lone goal for Ringgold (2-8, 2-7). Defensive standouts include Madison Music and Haley Cook.
In the night cap, Noah Stanford scored goals in the 7th, 9th and 26th minutes to lead Bremen to a 7-0 victory.
On the first two goals, Stanford was able to establish position behind Ringgold (1-9, 1-8) before dribbling the ball in the open field and volleying in his team’s two scores. Stanford then headed his third straight goal, giving him a hat trick for the day.
Elkins said Stanford’s plays are indicative of the kind of talent Bremen has matriculating up and down the field.
“I think any time you play a team that is that well-skilled and athletic—and the majority of their team plays travel soccer—it’s going to make it a lot more difficult for you to defend,” Elkins said. “I told our guys that we had to defend, and we had to play hardnosed. We are not overly skilled, so we have to make that up with effort.
“The first half we didn’t loop out that much effort. In the second half we played a little better, but they’re pretty good, and that made the difference. They are just better than we were.”
Other goals came from Chase Cashen, Will Roth and Mathew Reese. Cashen also contributed three assists, while Reese had two assists and Stanford facilitated two scores. Goalkeeper Lukas Wright recorded the shutout.
Both Ringgold teams are slated to face North Murray at home on Tuesday, while the Blueand-White is scheduled to host Heritage Thursday night in the season finales.