Lady Devils soccer team beats Murphy, falls to Tuscola

Larry Griffin

lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com

The Lady Devils soccer team scored a 4-1 win over the Murphy Bulldogs at Murphy’s field on Friday, March 31, but lost 3-1 at home to the Tuscola Mountaineers on Monday, April 3.

The first goal of Friday’s game came as Audrey Zelenka found Mya Burrows-Kurr for a goal after 13 minutes of playing.

But most of the first half of the game was devoted to defenses – that was the only point scored in the first half.

Then came the second half, seeing Burrows-Kurr cross the ball to Katie Roland. Roland got her body on the ball and pushed it into the goal. And after the Devils committed a foul in the box, Gracie Sutton saved the penalty kick.

Karena Cline then found Burrows-Kurr with another goal, and then did it again just a minute later.

Then the Lady Devils committed a foul and the Bulldogs scored on the free kick.

The game ended with the Lady Devils up 4-1.

The game ended the Lady Devils’ first round of conference play – they’ve now played all teams from the conference one time.

Anna Gray led defense with 10 clears/steals, while Rose Carson got seven and Cora Watkins had four. Sutton got eight saves in goal. Cline was player of the game, with Head Coach Scott Cline praising her for playing “a major role in all four goals that were scored” and for “really stepping it up in the middle of the field.”

“Overall we were proud of the team’s performance. We played through some injuries and were missing one starter due to being out of the country,” Cline said. “We knew going into the game that Murphy had a good team and our girls did a great job of stepping up and being mentally prepared.”

The Lady Devils also played against the Tuscola Mountaineers at the Swain County High home field on Monday in a non-conference game.

Tuscola scored three times in the first half, while the Devils’ only point during the game came in the second half, as Cline scored off a pass from Watkins.

But much of the game was a tense back-and-forth as both teams kept the ball moving all over the field. Several would-be goals were thwarted on both sides as defense played strong.

“Tuscola has some talent on their team,” said Head Coach Scott Cline. “We knew it would be a tough game, but at the same time it definitely showed us some things we needed to work on.”

They also played the Pisgah Bears in Canton on Wednesday.

After Spring break, the Lady Devils will play all the teams a second time for the next round of conference play.