The Lady Devils soccer team traveled to Murphy on Thursday to take on the Murphy Bulldogs. Murphy would come into the game at 4-1 in conference play and Swain would come in at 5-0. Just 13 minutes into the game Junior Audrey Zelenka would find Sophomore Mya Burrows-Kurr for a goal. The first half would be a battle of the defenses as the half would end with the Lady Devils up 1-0.
The scoring in the second half would kick off four minutes into the half when Burrows-Kurr would cross the ball to Senior Katie Roland and Roland would get her body on the ball pushing it into the goal. At the 22 minute mark the Devils would commit a foul in the box and Sophomore Gracie Sutton would save the Penalty Kick. With 21 minutes left in the half Sophomore Karena Cline would find Burrows-Kurr with another goal. Just one minute later Cline would find Burrows-Kurr once again for a goal. With around 9 minutes left in the second half the Lady Devils would commit a foul. The Bulldogs would score off the free kick. The game would finish with the Lady Devils taking the 4-1 win. “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,” said Head Coach Scott Cline. “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 Defense was led by Junior Anna Gray with 10 clears/steals. She was followed by Sophomore Rose Carson with 7, Senior Cora Watkins with 4, and Sophomore Sophie Matz with 3. In goal, Sophomore Gracie Sutton had 8 Saves. The Player of the Game for the Lady Devils was Sophomore Karena Cline. “Karena came into the game battling both sickness and an injury,” said Coach Cline. “She played a major role in all four goals that were scored. Beyond that though, she really stepped it up in the middle of the field.”
With this game, the Lady Devils finished up their first round of conference play having played all teams from the conference once. After Spring Break they will start back in conference play to play all the teams a second time. The Lady Devils are 6-0 in conference play and 7-1-1 overall. Next week the Lady Devils host Tuscola on Monday in a 6:00 kickoff and travel to Pisgah on Wednesday for a 4:30 kickoff.