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Karena Cline passes to Helpman for another goal by the pair during the game
Hannah Styles
hstyles@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Lady Devils played the Highland Highlanders last week for playoff seeding, but ultimately lost the game 2-0. On Monday, the Swain Lady Devils soccer team took on Murphy at home for the first round of the North Carolina High School Athletic Associations Women’s Soccer 1A Championship tournament. The Devils played an excellent game and it proved in the end with a 4-0 shutout finish versus the Lady Bulldogs. In the first half, the Devils got three goals up on Murphy, with senior Mazie Helpman scoring off a corner kick from freshman Karena Cline, and again when Helpman got a long ball from Cline, and another score from Cline to Helpman with eleven minutes left in the half. The first half ended with the Devils 3-0, and in the final half Karena Cline took a corner kick that bounced off the goalkeeper but was returned in by freshman Mya Burrows-Kurr and the game ended with a four-point win.
“The girls played a good full 80 minutes. It was great to see how well they played as a team and kept the intensity up for the full game,” Head Coach Scott Cline said.
Defensively, sophomore Anna Gray led the way with 12 steals/clears each, followed by senior Jade Henry with 67, junior Elke Reinert and freshman Sophie Matz each with 6. In the game, sophomore Emmie Fuller had 7 goalkeeper saves. The Player of the Game for the Maroon Devils was senior Mazie Helpman.
“Mazie really stepped it up in the scoring. She was very persistent and moved around the field really well,” Coach Cline said.
The Devils will travel to Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Mooresboro on Thursday for a 6 p.m. game in the 2nd round of the NCHSAA Playoffs.