Soccer Preview: Heritage vs. McMinn County
The Heritage Mountaineers are on the road again on Saturday to play the McMinn County Cherokees at 10:00 a.m. The two teams each escaped with close wins against their previous opponents.
Heritage will bounce into Saturday's game after beating Walker Valley, who they hadn't topped in three consecutive meetings. Heritage's defense stepped up to hand Walker Valley a 1-0 shutout on Friday. Given the Mountaineers' advantage in MaxPreps' Tennessee soccer rankings (they are ranked 24th, while the Mustangs are ranked 145th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Heritage's one-goal win came courtesy of
Aidan Van Tyle, who's now up to five this season.
Meanwhile, McMinn County sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 2-1 victory over Maryville on Thursday. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Cherokees.
McMinn County used a slightly different lineup for their bout with Maryville. Three players got more time on the pitch than they're used to: MacKenzie Howard (80), Alyssa Brown (80), and Jazzelle Miller (70). The trio had averaged 57.1, 56, and 49 minutes respectively before Thursday's matchup. Howard made the most of the opportunity, scoring a goal and an assist. A few more games like that and she might be seeing even more time going forward.
Heritage's win bumped their record up to 7-2. As for McMinn County, their victory bumped their record up to 3-4-1.
Heritage beat McMinn County by a goal when the teams last played back in September of 2023, winning 3-2. Will Heritage repeat their success, or does McMinn County have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
