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Owen Craig fends off an opponent from North Buncombe at Monday’s game.
Larry Griffin
lgriffin@thesmokymountaintimes.com
The Swain County Maroon Devils soccer team lost 9-0 to North Buncombe in a nonconference game on Monday night, Aug. 14, in what coach Kyndall Cochran said was a “hard game.”
“North Buncombe plays in a 3A/4A conference over in Asheville. We had to dig deep with our defense and got worked a lot even though the Blackhawks came out on top with the win, Swain’s boys still had really good moments we are going to capitalize on,” she said by email.
Among the standout moments were senior Owen Craig getting player of the match, and Cochran said he’d “helped to set the beat” for ball movement.
The backline stayed strong through the game and did not back down.
“If a mistake was made, they kept trying,” Cochran said.
For now, Cochran said the team’s focus is on the next game, and they were looking at ways to better their playing.
“We always want to improve. We are centering right now around passing, talking and moving as a whole,” she said.
Brandon Lanning led in steals for the game with 12 of them, while Max Wilmot followed that with four.
In addition, goalkeeper Matt Evans got five saves during the game.
The next soccer game was Wednesday, Aug. 16 at Mountain Heritage (after press time), and the following one will be held Monday at Smoky Mountain High School at 6 p.m.