Christian Avila (14) of Oak Ridge breaks away from a Gibbs defender during a 5-0 win for the Wildcats at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge Wildcats boys’ soccer team has played the Anderson County Mavericks, Clinton Dragons, and Gibbs Eagles for what could be the last time—at least as district rivals during the regular season.
It is possible, though, that the teams could meet as non-district foes in regular season games, such as in regular-season soccer tournaments.
The Anderson County, Clinton, Gibbs, and Central boys’ soccer teams will be in the smaller Class AA classification for the 2017-2021 seasons.
Teams that will still be in District 3 (Region 2) in Class AAA are Oak Ridge and Campbell County, Halls, Karns, and Powell.
The Wildcats beat Anderson County 7-3 on Tuesday, March 28. They defeated Clinton 5-0 on Friday, March 31.
They also won 5-0 against Gibbs at home on Tuesday, April 4. Oak Ridge senior Austin Vinyard had two goals, including a breakaway down the right side of the field, and two assists in that game. Both assists were to Masa Kato, who scored one of his two goals on a right-to-left cross from Vinyard as he fell to the ground battling Gibbs defenders and the other on a left-to-right cross from Vinyard. Kato also had an assist in the game, crossing the ball to Christian Avila on the left side of the field for a goal.
Oak Ridge Coach Jeff Trombly said Vinyard got off to a good start this season.
The Gibbs game earlier this month helped prepare the Wildcats for the Smoky Mountain Cup in Gatlinburg, where Oak Ridge beat Dobyns-Bennett 4-2 after losing to the Indians 3-1 in last year’s Class AAA sectional.
After the Oak Ridge-Gibbs game, Trombly said the Eagles had seven seniors graduate in December, and the junior varsity soccer game had to be canceled because Gibbs didn’t have enough players.
After that game, the Wildcats beat Powell 6-0 in another district game at home on April 11. They also beat Halls in another district game earlier this year.
They play at home again tonight (Tuesday, April 18) at 7 p.m. against Hardin Valley in a non-district game.
You can see the 2017-2021 boys’ soccer classifications here. You can see links to the district and regional alignments for all sports from 2017-2021 here.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
See the season schedule here.
See more Oak Ridge-Gibbs soccer photos here.
Masa Kato (5) of Oak Ridge and Curtis Russell (8) of Gibbs battle for the soccer ball during a 5-0 win for the Wildcats at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Austin Vinyard (9) of Oak Ridge races toward the Gibbs goal against Curtis Russell (8) of the Eagles during a 5-0 win for the Wildcats at the Oak Ridge Soccer Complex on Tuesday, April 4, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
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