PF wins cat fight

Tigers down Lions 4-0

In a county cat fight, the Tigers came out on top of the Lions, posting a 4-0 shut out win on the road in soccer action at King’s Academy Tuesday. A windy afternoon forced the ball low but the Tigers managed to keep a few of their passes close enough to the ground to set up two scores in each half by four different Pigeon Forge players as they defeated TKA.
Zach Schrandt netted the first goal of the game with an assist from John Bolanos. Joe Peltier got credit for the second score moments later. Peltier sent the ball in towards the goal, but it hit a King defender in the head and bounced off into the net for a score.
Schrandt had two good chances taken away from the right side in the last ten minutes of the half. A deflection and steal took one scoring chance and Andrew Holt got his head in the way of another before it could get near the goal.
Joseph Henrique opened to second half for Pigeon Forge with a clean shot two minutes in that went just right of the goal on a shot from the left side. Henrique got his mark though, scoring nine minutes into the half with an off speed roller that dribbled past TKA goalie Andy Scalf for a 3-0 Tiger lead.
Pigeon Forge kept the ball around the Lions goal in the second half with only four second half shots attempted by King’s. The Tiger defense cleared the ball out well while the midfield was quick in support. The pressure broke through for another score. Henrique side passed to a cutting Anthony Dragich who hammered the ball for the fourth and final score at the 25:50 mark.
During the game, Pigeon Forge took 41 shots on goal to the Lions 10. “We played to match our competition this afternoon,” said Tiger Coach Bill Mosely, who was happy with the win, but not content with the team’s execution and passing in the April wind.
King’s Academy was playing with only two starters from the team that started the season for the school according to their Coach Paul Mobley. The Lions have been playing undermanned with few if any reserves on the sidelines during the last month. TKA still has a date with Alcoa before district tournaments starts.
Pigeon Forge had completed the regular season and before heading into the district tournament as the top seed after a perfect mark against district competition in the early part of the season, the Tigers will spend the weekend playing in the county tournament. Their first round game is scheduled for Thursday night against University High with games on Friday and Saturday at the soccer complex off of Dolly Parton Parkway in Sevierville. Seymour, Jefferson County, Gatlinburg-Pittman and Sevier County are all scheduled for play over the three-day event.