Wolverines score huge road win at Patton

Polk County showed in Monday’s 2-1 loss to Brevard that it could play on even terms with the top teams in the Mountain Foothills 7 Conference.

Wednesday, the Wolverines showed they could defeat the best.

Polk County made an early two-goal lead stand in taking down Patton, 2-1, in an MF7 match in Morganton.

The Panthers (12-3-1, 5-2) entered tied for second place in the league with Brevard after a Monday loss to Hendersonville, but have been considered one of the top teams in the 2A West region throughout this season.

But Cole Pereira scored on an assist from Nate Martinez and Jack Smith tallied on a pass from James Purtill to give Polk (2-11, 2-4) an early 2-0 lead.

Patton later responded with a goal, but Polk goalkeeper Cade Bright had 10 saves and kept the Panthers at bay until the final whistle.

The game was a physical one, with players from each side earning red cards, meaning much of the second half was played with each side a man down.

Polk County gets another shot at the conference’s top team on Monday, hosting MF7 leader Hendersonville. JV play begins at 5 p.m., the varsity around 6:45 p.m. and both matches will be shown live on NFHS Network.