The Oak Ridge Wildcats started the regular soccer season with a 4-0 win over Campbell County at home on Tuesday.
The Wildcats outshot the Cougars 20-2.
The Wildcats played four pre-season games, and senior Jose Rodriguez, the second-leading scorer last year, injured his ankle. But he should be back in a week or two, Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said.
Senior defender Blake Clowers also did not play Tuesday because of medical issues, Trombly said.
New to the team this year is senior Wildcats football player Matt Warmbrod, who primarily played linebacker. Warmbrod played up front for the Oak Ridge soccer team on Tuesday and scored one of the Wildcats’ four goals. Trombly said Warmbrod had played soccer until the eighth grade but then focused on football.
He had a busy night on Tuesday, picking up two shots and a goal in just the first half against Campbell County. Warmbrod had been a defender in soccer but converted to forward, Trombly said.
Trombly moved other players around Tuesday. For example, junior forward Masa Kato was moved back to defender because of injuries. Trombly said he is still putting the team together, but he thought the Wildcats possessed the ball well and played well as a team against Campbell County.
Junior forward Austin Vinyard scored Oak Ridge’s first goal in the second minute of the first half on an assist by Kato. Warmbrod scored the second goal in the 27th minute on an assist by Vinyard, bouncing the ball into the right side of the net off the left hand of junior goalkeeper Will Martin from the left side of the field.
In the second half, junior midfielder Brent Robinson scored unassisted in the 12th minute, dribbling in from the left side after a corner kick, and junior midfielder Noah Calhoun added the final goal in the 30th minute, rolling the ball in after a long breakaway by Oak Ridge.
The Wildcats are starting senior Joel Turner at goalkeeper.
They are competing in the Border Classic Tournament from March 17-19 in Augusta, Georgia. That tournament features good teams from Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee, Trombly said.
Oak Ridge will play at home against Central on Tuesday, March 22. The reserves game starts at 5 p.m., and the varsity game begins at 7.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
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