Lady Devils soccer has back-to-back wins

Gary Ayers

news@thesmokymountaintimes.com

The Swain Lady Devils soccer team continued its’ pursuit of a Smoky Mountain Conference championship with a 3-1 victory over the Lady Braves of Cherokee last Thursday. The win gives the Lady Devils the sweep of Cherokee after a tight 1-0 win earlier this season.

This game had special meaning as Mental Health Awareness Night was observed. Both teams wore special warm-up shirts recognizing mental health with the realization that it is okay to ask for help. The teams circled up before the game at Swain Memorial stadium as a show of unity and a poem was read that was written by Swain’s long-time athletic trainer Carrie Powell.

The Lady Delis wasted no time getting on the scoreboard first just four minutes into the game as junior Lola Collins would find junior Mya Burrows-Kurr who buried the ball into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.

The rest of the half was a battle of the defenses as Swain would take the 1-0 lead into halftime.

But only three minutes into the second half, it was Burrows-Kurr with the assist to sophomore Audrey Monteith for the goal. With 16 minutes left in the game, Burrows-Kurr would again provide rhe assist, this time to senior Emmie Fuller for Swain’s final goal. The Lady Devils committed a foul in the box that would provide the Lady Braves with a penalty kick for their score.

“We played a well-balanced game,” said Head Coach Scott Cline. “The girls knew that they needed the win after the loss to Highlands earlier in the week. They were motivated.”

Defense was led by senior Anna Gray with five clears/steals. Gray was followed by senior Kennedy Cooper and junior Rose Carson each with three.

In-goal junior Gracie Sutton recorded eight saves.

With her goal and two assists, Burrows-Kurr was named the player of the game.

“Mya really stepped it up, not just with scoring but also distributing the ball,” Cline said.

Tri-County

The Lady Devils soccer team flexed its muscles on offense and defense Monday at Murphy with a 9-0 mercy rule win over Tri-County Early College.

Swain scored quickly, taking just one and half minutes to get on the scoreboard as junior Karena Cline took a corner kick and found Mya Burrows-Kurr for the goal.

Ten minutes later, senior Emmie Fuller took a corner  kick that Cline would score a goal with.

With 14 minutes left in the first half, Cline and Burrows-Kurr would connect again for a 3-0 Swain lead. Only a minute later, Fuller found junior Lola Collins for a score that put Swain up 4-0 at half-time.

The second half continued with more dominance by the Lady Devils as senior Anna Gray would pass to senior Audrey Zelenka for a goal only four minutes into the second half.

Three minutes later, Collins would connect with gray for a goal for a 6-0 lead. With 25 minutes remaining, Collins scored her second goal of the night. With only three minutes to play, Burrows-Kurr crossed the ball to sophomore Audrey Monteith for a header score for the final 9-0 tally.

“It was another good game for us. We were able to play all of our players and they all played great, “ said Coach Cline.

Defensively, Swain was led by junior Sophie Matz with five clears/steals. Matz was followed by senior Anna Gray and junior Rose Carson each with four.

In goal, junior Gracie Sutton recorded two saves and freshman Addison Blankenship had one save.

The Player of the Game was junior Sophie Matz.

“Sophie played in a different position than her normal position most of the game but she stepped it up really good,” Coach Cline said.

Swain returns to Murphy to face the Bulldogs Thursday as Murphy is only one game behind league-leaders Swain and Highlands in the conference standings.