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Its first ever opponent was top-10 2-A West Davidson, and the game was pretty much what one would expect. The Green Dragons scored six goals in the first half, and cruised to a relatively easy 8-0 nonconference win.
“I am proud of the girls,” said head coach Huey Turner. “We didn’t do anything tonight that we have been doing in practice, but I think a lot of that goes back to it was the first time we have ever played soccer. I knew it was going to be like this. I am starting from scratch and building a program.”
An energetic group of Thomasville players took to the pitch, with many of them admitting they were nervous and sick before the game.
Early on it was clear that there is a long road for the program to journey, but one that appears to be profitable down the road. Players were grouping together at times, failing to throw the ball in properly, and looking lost on where to kick the ball.
Kristin Owens put the visitors up just three minutes into the game, watching the ball trickle right to her foot in front of the goal to bury it past goalie Alex Solis.
Eight minutes later the Green Dragons went up 2-0 on an own goal by Thomasville off a corner kick, and a minute later it was Owens scoring again on a breakaway to push the lead to three.
West continued to weave in and out around Thomasville players, doing whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted to lead 6-0 at intermission.
The Lady Bulldogs had a little more desire in the second half, and nearly came away with a goal on a few occasions.
With nine minutes left to play and already down 8-0, Thomasville looked to salvage something from its first ever game. It appeared the Lady Bulldogs would score at some point, but what remained to be seen was when. That chance came when a penalty kick was awarded in the box.
Turner, who for much of the game looked like a proud dad on the sideline, collapsing at one moment in heartbreak after a scoring chance slipped by, turned to Bethany Reid to take the shot. She wound up and kicked the ball to the right, but the ball sailed off her foot up over the crossbar and out of play. She would get one more chance two minutes later when she found some open space, but her shot caromed off the post and trickled to the keeper’s hands.
“Bethany probably had five legitimate shots on goal and we had several good crosses,” said Turner. “They asked me if I was mad at them, but I am not disappointed one bit.”
Thomasville will have over a week off before its next game, and Turner is glad to get the first one out of the way.
“We have nine days to fix everything I think is broke, and we will go from there,” he said. “The cool part is, it is the first game ever, and every single girl got to play.”