The Seymour Eagles Soccer team is right on schedule to have a successful season.  They opened the season with a shutout over Clinton by a score of 2-0.  Eagles Coach Drew Payne said this, “It was our home opener.  We could have scored more goals but a win is a win.  Shutouts are always good.”
The first goal was scored by senior Jacob Lindsey with an assist from Corbin Marine.
The second goal was scored by Stephen Martin with 15 minutes to go in the game with an assist from Austin Acre from around 35 yards out.  Coach Payne described the goal, “He hit it from about 35 yards outs.  It went in the upper right corner of the net; pretty nice.  It was one of the nicest goals I’ve seen in high school.  We kicked the ball really well.  We just didn’t find the net as much as we would have liked.”
Two days later Seymour went to Gibbs, Coach Payne’s almamater.  It was the first time he had been back since he played there.  The Eagles had their top defenders and starters out with injuries, Nathan Drain and Michael Mitchell.  They played in the Clinton game but aggravated their injuries.
Seymour started slow the first half which ended 1-0 Gibbs.  In the second half they seemed to be more fired up and focused.  The Eagles finally found the net off of a Stephen Martin (senior) goal off a Jacob Lindsey assist making the score 1-1.
Seymour dominated the play the second half in all aspects except the score.
With ten minutes to go in the game there was a questionable call.  Seymour’s goalie, Chris Ballard was fighting for the ball on the ground grabbing a Gibbs player by the foot and was red carded.  He was ejected from the game.  Ryan Broome came in as backup goalie.  That left the Eagles a man down for the rest of the game.
Gibbs scored off the penalty kick from the red card making the score 2-1 Gibbs with 10 minutes to go in the game.
Seymour then scored with 7 minutes to go.  Austin Acree made the goal with a Jacob Lindsey assist locking the score at 2-2.
The Eagles kept attacking until there was 1:30 to go in the game and they got a free kick playing it real quick before Gibbs could set up.  Austin Acree found a loose ball in front of the goal and slammed it home for the win 3-2.
Coach Payne had this to say, “We overcame a lot during this game.  We kept fighting.  We shouldn’t have been in that position.  We were definitely the better team.  We didn’t come to play the first half.  The fact we were a man down and behind and still won showed we had a lot of heart.  That’s something we can build on the rest of the season if we are in that position again.  We know now if we need to overcome adversity we can.  Asked what he thought about the season so far the coach responded, “I feel like we’re where we need to be.  I expected to be 2-1 (a loss to Farragut) at this point.  We just need to get healthy more than anything.  We’re hurting defensively with ‘the injuries.  They should play the next game. I feel good so far.  We’re where we need to be.”
Next up for the Eagles is the Dobbins-Bennett Tournament March 26-28 at Kingsport.

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