Seven receive all-region honors
BY BRITTNI MCCOY
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Martin County fell to eventual 15th Region soccer champion Prestonsburg 6-1 in the tournament opening round Oct. 11 at Cardinal Stadium.
The Lady Cards (9-9, 7-4, 2-1) finished the season as the district runner-up and played in the 15th Region Tournament for the first time in the school’s history.
Seven Lady Cards received all-region honors.
With 1:42 remaining in the game, senior Savannah Young snuck behind the Blackcat defense and punched Martin County’s only goal past the goalkeeper. This is the first and only goal in a regional tournament in Martin County High School history.
“It was great to end my high school career with a goal,” Young said after the game. “I hope the girls do great next year, and I’ll miss all of them.”
The Cards had eight shots that could not find their way into the net.
Addison Duncan finished with 10 saves, two against the state’s leading scorer Anna Burchett.
Kaley Maynard did not have the opportunity to play her final season due to an injury. When asked how she felt about it, she replied, “Sad. Happy. Proud.”
“It hurts not playing, and it hurts even more for the fact of being with these girls every day for six years and spending so much time with them,” Maynard added. “It’s going to be hard without them. I’ll miss it. I’m so proud of this team’s improvements.”
Marlie Fletcher was the goalkeeper for the Cards all season until a car accident two weeks before the tournament derailed the rest of her season.
“The effort was there,” Fletcher said. “I’m feeling a lot of emotions. It’s hard. I worked hard to get here, and it broke my heart to have my season cut short.”
The Cards made a valiant effort against Prestonsburg, a team that went 18-1 this year. In the last meeting, the Cards fell to the Blackcats 11-1. The team showed a lot of heart in the 6-1 loss and a lot of improvement.
Brynnalyn Smith is a senior that just began playing soccer this year.
“It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Smith said.
A key returner for next year is Hailey Damron.
“It was good to get this experience,” Damron said. “I thought we played well and worked together as a team. We fought until the end and didn’t give up.”
Martin County head coach Steven Gauze built the program and had a successful historical season.
“If we had played this hard against Johnson Central, we would have won. But I’m excited for the team. They finally started coming together at the end. Overall, I’m pleased,” Gauze said.
“Nobody gave us a chance against the No. 1 team in the region. We stuck to the game plan, got tired, but we played well,” he added. “I’m happy for them. I know if we play hard, we can play with anybody.”
The coach will miss his seniors next season.
“My seniors are calm and leaders on the field, so it’s hard losing them,” said Gauze. “I’ve coached Marlie since the sixth grade, so it was really tough losing her.
Sophie McCoy, Lena Hale and Laura Hale were named to the all-region first team, and Caitlyn Horn was named to the second team. Hailey Damron, Tamara Workman and Marlie Fletcher received honorable mentions.
