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Maroon Devil Clayton Shuler, junior, gains control of the ball in the home tie against the Murphy Bulldogs. The next game is Monday at Andrews.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
Labor Day saw glimmers of hope for the Maroon Devils soccer team, as they tied 1-1 with the Murphy Bulldogs on the holiday, Monday Sept. 4.
It was a conference game, and marked the Devils’ first game this season that was not a loss.
The game saw the Devils playing hard.
Junior Brendan Lanning got 19 steals and Max Wilmot got 14. Numerous other Devils got at least a handful of steals each.
Junior Clayton Shuler scored the lone goal for the Devils, awarding them two points. Shuler made seven shots for the goal overall during the game.
At the goalie box, sophomore Matt Evans got 11 saves.
Coach Kyndall Cochran said by email that the team was proud of its work in the game.
“Swain played a great game and played a full 100 minutes very focused, determined and pushing the limits I believe the game set the tone for the conference play this year, and we came out showing we are battling towards the Conference Championship title again,” she said by email.
She said Shuler was player of the game and praised the whole team for “leading the attack” all the way through.
“Overall, everyone on the team stepped it up for the game, and we were very proud how they played. With all that being said, we will go into the next practice switching our focus for the next game, and being prepared for the team,” she wrote.
The Maroon Devils also had a home game Wednesday, Sept. 6 against Blue Ridge after press time.
Their next game is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 11, an away game against Andrews.