Bryson City, NC – After a rain cancellation forced Monday’s game against the Murphy bulldogs to be moved to Tuesday. The Devils were forced to play two tough conference games in a row.
“This was not an ideal situation. Highlands is clearly the best and most organized team in our conference.” says Coach Parton “You don’t want to play them after a tough game, but that was our only option.”
Murphy, NC – The Maroon Devils inched out a win against the Murphy Bulldogs after OT and 2 rounds of penalty kicks.
Junior Cooper Reinert Attacking Ball ~ Photo by Mandy Payne
The Bulldogs scored early in the game off a break away from senior Long Le. This seemed to be a wake up call for the Devils who regrouped and senior captain Johnathan Duncan scored a goal at 29:00. After a disputable yellow card to goal keeper Ryan Tranter, the Bulldogs ended the half with a score of 2-1.
The Maroon Devils picked it up in the second half and Duncan scored a quick goal just under 7 minutes into the half. The Devils were unable to score another and the half ended 2-2 forcing the Devils in to overtime, 2 ten minute halves.
Neither team scored in OT and instead of ending in a tie as it would have in previous years the game went to PK’s. The first round of PK’s each team gets 5 shooters, if the score is tied after the first round 5 different shooters are chosen.
Swain and Murphy were tied after the first round. Both teams made 3 PK’s. Goal Keeper Ryan Tranter blocked 2 PK’s in the first round. Murphy missed 3 PK’s in the second round 2 blocked by Ryan Tranter on drifting over the goal putting swain ahead 2 to 1 with only one shooter for each team remaining. Senior Graham Allen was Swains final shooter, he kept his composer successful making his PK and giving Swain the 3-2 win.
“I really can’t thank my Coach enough. He trusted me to take the last shot and it paid off. There is a lot of pressure in the situation, but that’s exactly what I play for.” says Allen.
Parker Chatham Defends Highlands Corner Kick ~ Photo by Amy Callahan
Bryson City, NC – Swain hosted the Highland Highlanders in what was probably one of the most important conference matches this year. Highlands proved themselves to be the more experienced team as they defeated the Devils 3-0 ending Swains 4 game winning streak.
Highlands scored 2 goals in the first half and 1 goal during the second half.
“I felt like we played pretty well against Highlands.” says coach Parton. “You can always play better, but for us, this was a good game. The kids worked hard and never once complained or made an excuse about the unfortunate back to back game situation.”
The Maroon Devils are 4-2 in the conference and 4-5 overall. Tonight the Maroon Devils host the Blue Ridge Bobcats. This is another big conference game for the Devils.