The Lady Devils soccer team hosted 3A Smoky Mountain Mustangs on Friday night. It would be the first time the two teams have met this season. Last year the Mustangs took the 4-2 win. Out of the six total meetings between the Lady Devils and Lady Mustangs the Devils had never beaten the Mustangs. Within the first ten minutes the Mustangs would get on the scoreboard first putting them up 1-0. The rest of the second half would see both teams with opportunities, but neither team were able to capitalize on them. The first half would end with the Mustangs up 1-0.
The second half would prove to be a different game. The Lady Devils would score their first goal of the game when Senior Cora Watkins would cross the ball to Sophomore Mya Burrows-Kurr just 10 minutes into the second half. Twelve minutes later Watkins would find Sophomore Isabella Walker for a goal. With just two minutes left in the game Burrows-Kurr would drop the ball off to Sophomore Karena Cline who would score from 20 yards out. The Lady Devils would secure the 3-1 win. “We played a good game throughout. We just happened to let one slip through early.” said Head Coach Scott Cline. “In the second half the girls came out composed and ready to score some goals. It was great to see how confident we played.”
The Defense was led by Junior Anna Gray with 10 Clears/Steals. She was followed by Sophomore Sophie Matz with 9, Senior Elke Reinert with 8, Junior Emmie Fuller with 6 and Sophomore Rose Carson with 5. In goal, Sophomore Gracie Sutton had seven goalkeeper saves. The Player of the Game for the Lady Devils was Sophie Matz. “Sophie really stepped up her play in the game. I was very proud of how well she worked with her teammates and did a great job of settling high balls and distributing the ball to her teammates.” said Cline.
The Lady Devils currently sit in first place in the Smoky Mountain Conference with a 7-0 conference record and a 9-3-1 overall record. The five remaining games that the Lady Devils have left in the regular season are all conference games. This week the Lady Devils host Blue Ridge at 6:00 on Monday and on Thursday they travel to Highlands for a 6:00 kickoff.