-
Swain boys soccer team is pictured as a group after winning conference
It was quite the eventful Saturday and Monday for the Swain High boys varsity team. The Maroon Devils were holding on to a one-game lead over Highlands Highlanders and the Murphy Bulldogs going into the weekend. To win the conference championship outright, they would have to beat Highlands at Highlands on Saturday and the Cherokee Braves on Monday night for Senior Night.
On Saturday, it was a very hard-fought game for the Devils at Highlands.
“We always know when we go to Highlands it will be a tough game,” said head coach Scott Cline.
Just 15 minutes into the game, the Devils would get on the scoreboard first when Matthew Gray would find Landon Matz for a goal. With one-minute left in the first half, Zachary Cline would find Gray for a score making it 2-0 at halftime.
With 8 minutes left in the second half, the Highlanders would score off a corner kick. Two minutes later, Highlands would make a long throw and score off of it. Regulation would end with the score tied 2-2 and force the two teams to play two overtime periods.
With a few minutes left in the second overtime period, Cline would find Matz for a goal. The Devils would hold off the Highlanders putting them one step closer to a conference title.
On defense, Lucas Trantham would lead the way with 12 clears/steals, followed by Levi Trantham and Booth Bassett each with 10, and Chase Burrell with 9. In goal, Noel Wolf would have 6 saves.
The Player of the Game was senior Booth Bassett. “Booth really stepped it up in this game and really made a positive impact on the team,” said Cline.
Going into Monday night, the Devils knew they had a lot riding on the game. If they beat Cherokee, then they would clinch the Smoky Mountain conference championship. If they lost then they might have to play a tie-breaker game.
Before the game, the seven seniors on the team were recognized for their time as a Maroon Devil. Each senior was given a Maroon Hard Hat with their number to thank them for their hard work in representing Swain High. They spent a good portion of their season doing a book study on “The Hard Hat: 21 Ways to be a Great Teammate.”
The Devils left no doubt that they would be conference champions on this Senior Night.
Swain would get on the board first just four minutes into the game when Dhruv Senghani would find Gavin Lanning for a goal. Two minutes later, Zachary Cline would find Landon Matz for a goal.
Eight minutes later, Senghani would find Cline for another goal. With 12 minutes left in the half, Chase Burrell would pass the ball to Senghani who would chip the ball over the goalkeeper’s head. A few minutes later, Burrell would find Matz for another goal. With nine minutes left in the first half, Cline would find Matz for a goal. Matz would find Booth Bassett a few minutes later to finish off the goal scoring for the half. There was little doubt of the game’s result when half-time broke with the score at 7-0 in the Devils’ favor.
In the second half, Burrell would find Cline for another goal. After this 8th goal on the day, the seniors would be recognized and pulled from the game as next year’s squad was put in the game to finish the mercy rule. With 7 minutes left in the game, Lucas Trantham would finish the scoring for a 9-0 board.
“Overall, the players came out ready to secure the conference championship and to get this win for the seniors,” said Coach Cline. “Our ball movement around the field was really good.”
On defense, Anthony Reyes and Levi Trantham lead the way with 8 clears/steals, followed by Chase Burrell and Gavin Lanning with 4 each. In goal, Noel Wolf had 3 Saves.
The Player of the Game was Chase Burrell. “Chase did a great job from his center-mid position,” Said Cline. “He not only helped on defense, but he distributed the ball well to his teammates.”
The Devils finished conference play with a 9-1 record. Overall, they are currently 9-2, with a game on today (Thursday, March 11) at 4 p.m. with 2A Smoky Mountain at home.
“We are looking at this as an opportunity to prepare for the playoffs next week,” Cline said. “We expect to play some teams very similar to Smoky in the playoffs and we feel this game will help us to get ready.” Currently, senior Zachary Cline is number 1 in the state at the 1A level with 18 assists. Sophomore Landon Matz is currently number 2 in the state at the 1A level in goals scored with 22.