Special to the Maroon Devils Network – The Maroon Devils Men’s Soccer Team traveled to the Cherokee Braves on Monday for a 4:00 game. It was a very slow start to the soccer game, but the Devils would get on the board first when a foul would take place in the box 27 minutes into the half. Junior Joáo Segato would convert the penalty kick putting the Devils up 1-0. Eleven minutes later Segato would score once again off a pass from Junior Dhruv Senghani.
Ten minutes into the second half Junior Zachary Cline would settle a ball sent outside the box by a Braves defender and return the ball off a volley into the goal. Fifteen minutes later Senior Jonas Trejo would find Freshman Matthew Gray for the fourth goal of the day. With three minutes left in the game Cline would find Junior Chase Burrell for the final goal. The Devils would go on to take the 5-0 win. “We moved the ball around really well.” said Head Coach Scott Cline. “The speed of play just slowed down and it affected how well we executed on the field.”
On defense Senior Jonas Trejo led the way with 3 Clears/Steals, followed by seven Swain players with 2 each. In goal Junior Noel Wolf had 2 Saves. The Player of the Game for the Devils was Senior Jonas Trejo. “Jonas did a great job working the middle of the field. He was aggressive and helped to step up the intensity in the game.” said Cline.
The Devils improve to 5-2 in the conference and 8-7-3 overall. They continue to sit in second place in the conference and are 1 game behind first place Hayesville. The Devils travel to Murphy on Wednesday for a 6:00 conference game.