For coaches, sometimes the end result is not always the best way to determine whether their teams were successful or not on that particular day.
Sometimes coaches need to look at the big picture, and keep their focus clearly defined.
Cumberland County soccer coach Cub Whitson knows just how true that adage is after participating in last weekend’s Smoky Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg.
After battling two of the top teams in Tennessee and one of the premiere programs in Mississippi, Whitson and the Lady Jets closed out the prestigious two-day event 0-1-2.
“It was a good weekend,” Whitson said. “We got the opportunity to face some very good competition, and get a good feeling about where we are as a team.”
Cumberland County opened the tourney with a 2-2 tie against Clinton High School, and then closed out play with a 0-0 decision against Karns and an 8-0 loss to Northpoint.
“We were pretty well matched with Clinton,” Whitson said. “The only difference was Clinton had a Division 1 college commit that played striker and midfield for them.”
Clinton scored a goal in the first half to take the early lead. Cumberland County came back to make it 1-1 on a penalty kick by Molly Neal. Clinton scored again, and Kami Farley tied it at 2-2 for CCHS with a goal in the final minute of the match.
“Our girls got an unlucky penalty call early,” Whitson said. “But after that we played some good defense to try and contain their striker. We had a few chances offensively.”
Cumberland County’s defense, Whitson said, went after the Clinton striker with man-to-man defense, and the double team.
“We made a couple of tweaks heading into the Karns match, and the girls responded well. We probably played the best defensive game we’ve played all year.
“I don’t think Karns ever got a good look on goal. Karns is talented, but we did a good job containing them. It was the match of the weekend.”
The blue and gold defense in the Karns match really pleased Whitson. He said that unit is figuring each other out and they’re coming into their own. He said with such an effort, he feels they’ve set a strong baseline for what they’re capable of. Whitson believes his defense is only going to get better.
“We actually played really well for about 35 minutes in the first half against Northpoint,” Whitson said. “They got two goals in the first half, so in the second half I put in the junior varsity. [That was the third match in two days] so I wanted to protect the starters against possible injury. I needed to give them a break.”
Cumberland County will be back in action Sept. 3 when the Lady Jets host DeKalb County. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.