Franklin County's Rylan Banks, in blue, pursues the ball down the field with a defender close behind during a game Friday against Red Bank High School. Banks had a goal and an assist in the 3-0 win.
Franklin County's Rylan Banks, in blue, pursues the ball down the field with a defender close behind during a game Friday against Red Bank High School. Banks had a goal and an assist in the 3-0 win.
The Franklin County High School boys soccer team beat the Red Bank Lions 3-0 at White County Middle School Friday in a game for the Ronald Mezime Cup.
Franklin County scored a pair of goals in the first half and added to the lead after halftime to secure a victory to start the event.
Franklin County head soccer coach Kent Bean said his team continued a recent trend of slow starts, but he added that he was happy with his squad’s performance beyond that.
“After the first 15 or 16 minutes, I was pretty satisfied,” he said. “We just kind of started off on our heels, but once we settled in, I was pretty happy with our ability to get some scores and prevent scores.”
Kevin Hernandez got Franklin County on the board about 13 minutes into the game as he got behind the defense and fired a shot into the net for his fourth goal of the season.
Franklin County struck for another goal with about nine minutes left in the first half as Rylan Banks took the ball down the field and sent a cross in front of the goal which was headed in at close range by Brody Metcalf. The goal was Metcalf’s fourth of the season so far.
Franklin County led 2-0 at halftime.
Banks added to the lead about six minutes into the second half as he fired a long shot from the top of the goal box into the net for his third score of the season.
The Lions pressured Franklin County’s goal a few times in the second half, but goalkeeper Octavio Martinez and the Franklin County defense turned them away each time to preserve the shutout.
With the win, Franklin County improved to 3-1 on the season.
The remainder of the Ronald Mezime Cup would be cancelled on Saturday due to wet field conditions created by heavy rain late Friday night.
They will next play Tuesday against Christ Presbyterian Academy at the Richard Siegel Soccer Complex in Murfreesboro. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
