WCMS soccer finishes 3rd in CTC tournament

The middle school soccer team saw its season come to an end Saturday, as it finished third in the Central Tennessee Conference tournament at Shelbyville.

The Pioneers, who defeated Coffee County on Friday to advance to the semifinals, fell to Harris Middle School 5-0, with Harris scoring its first goal in the second minute of the game and adding three more by halftime.

Harris’ first goal came off a corner kick which the Pioneers failed to clear from in front of their goal. WCMS tried twice to clear the ball, but only found Harris players blocking their path to finally place the ball past the Pioneer keeper.

Two minutes later Harris struck again, connecting for another goal four minutes later and their fourth five minutes after that, finding the back of the net on four of their 18 first-half shots.

Warren County’s only shot at the Harris goal was off a foul in the penalty box in the 27th minute of the half. Alex Serna took the penalty shot, but it was corralled by the Harris goalkeeper, keeping the shutout intact.

The second half was similar to the first, with Harris striking in the third minute with their last goal of the game. They substituted in and out the rest of the game, however the intensity of the game never changed with Harris out-shooting the Pioneers 15-4 in the second half.

Dropping into the consolation game, the Pioneers took on Franklin County South, defeating the Trojans in a game which came down to a five-player shootout.

Tied 1-1 at the end of regulation, Warren County’s Vulinh Pham, Jacob Griffin, Cole Carlson, Alex Serna, and Johnny Smith faced off against the South keeper, while the Pioneers’ Patrick David had to face five members of the Trojans. After only four kicks, the Pioneers scored four goals to the Trojans’ two, with David blocking one attempt and the other South miss going over the goal. Pham, Griffin, Carlson and Serna all scored for WCMS, which did not need Smith to kick as the earlier four goals put their team ahead for good.