The Lady Devils soccer team traveled to Highlands on Thursday to open conference play. The Lady Highlanders were undefeated the previous season winning the conference championship.
“We knew going into the game that it would be a tough game, especially with Highlands’ top two scorers from the previous season returning,” said Head Coach Scott Cline.
The game turned out to be a nail-biter with strong defense on both sides. The Lady Devils would take the 3-1 win but not without a fight from the Lady Highlanders.
Just eight minutes into the game, the Lady Devils would commit a foul just outside the box. Highlands would convert their free kick into a goal. Less than a minute later, freshman Karena Cline would take a corner kick and senior Mazie Helpman would get her body on the ball converting it into a Devil goal. The first half would finish out with the Devils and Highlanders tied 1-1.
It would take the Lady Devils 30 minutes into the second half before they could add another goal despite numerous shot opportunities. Senior Kaylee Simmons would make a throw-in to senior Avery Maples who would then return the ball back to Simmons who would take a long shot finding the corner of the goal.
Seven minutes later, Cline would find freshman Mya Burrows-Kurr for the Lady Devils third and final goal of the game. The Devils secured the 3-1 win.
The Lady Devils kept the ball on the attacking half of the field most of the game, taking a total of 23 shots while Highlands had 7 shots in the game.
“We played a really good game overall. We just struggled at times with finishing,” said Coach Cline. “This was a big win for us and plays a major role in meeting some of our team goals.”
Defensively, Gray led the way with 11 steals/clears, followed by senior Jadyn Perez with 6, and Maples and Matz each with 5. In the game, sophomore Emmie Fuller had 7 goalkeeper saves.
The Player of the Game for the Lady Devils was Matz. “Sophie played great and played a major role in helping to keep Highlands leading scorer from last season scoreless,” said Coach Cline.