The Swain varsity boys soccer team traveled to Cherokee to take on the Cherokee Braves on Saturday in a rescheduled game. The Maroon Devils would have eight players scoring goals in the game. The Devils kept up the pace for a 9-0 win.
Just two minutes into the game, Chase Burrell would find Landon Matz for the first goal of the game. One minute later, Anthony Reyes would find Lucas Trantham for a goal. Thirty seconds later, Gavin Rowland would find Matz for his second goal. Three minutes later, Matthew Gray would find the back of the net off a Burrell pass.
Eight minutes into the game, Zachary Cline would score off a dropped ball 40 yards out putting the Devils up 5-0.
With 21 minutes left in the first half, Burrell would connect with Dhruv Senghani to add another goal for the Devils. Burrell would add his own goal five minutes later off a pass from Cline.
Owen Craig would score his first goal of the season a few minutes later off a pass from Noel Wolf. The Devils would attain the mercy rule 20 minutes into the second half when Cline would find Wolf for the last goal of the game.
“We were happy with our performance today. We had a lot of players not playing in their normal positions, but we were moving the ball around well,” said head coach Scott Cline.
On defense, Booth Bassett led the way with 5 clears/steals. He was followed by Lucas Trantham, J Levi Trantham, and Landon Matz each with 4. In goal, Noel Wolf had 1 save and Cameron Phillips had 1 save.
The Player of the Game for the Devils was senior Titan Chase Burrell.
“Chase played a great game. He played the center mid position well and did a good job getting the ball moved around,” said Cline.
The victory Saturday followed a 3-0 win against the Highlanders at home Friday in a rescheduled game.
Coming into the game, the teams were tied. Highlands was ranked number sixth in the state at the 1A level and Swain is ranked 19th. It was a game where the Devils would take 28 shots on goal—the most they have taken all season.
The Devils would get on top just five minutes into the game when Matthew Gray would Chase Burrell for a goal. With 17 minutes left in the half Gavin Lanning would find Gray for a goal.
The Devils would add one more in the second half when Matthew Gray would find Landon Matz for a goal. The Devils would finish up with the 3-0 win.
“Overall, we were happy with how well we moved the ball around the field. We truly struggled with finishing our shots though,” said head coach Scott Cline. “We had numerous opportunities and just could not finish. Highlands goalkeeper played a big role in that, but we also were just taking some unbalanced shots.”
On defense, Anthony Reyes led the way with 15 clears. He was followed by Zachary Cline with 13, Booth Bassett with 12, and Lucas and Levi Trantham each with 8.
In goal, Noel Wolf had 7 saves and Cameron Phillips had 2 saves.
The Player of the Game for the Devils was Lucas Trantham.
“Lucas did a great job pushing up and helping out on the offense and also getting back and helping on defense,” said Cline.
The Devils are 4-0 in the conference and 4-1 overall. The Devils next game was Wednesday (after press time) against the defending conference champion Hayesville at home at 4 p.m. They will then travel to Hayesville on Thursday and then travel to Murphy on Saturday at 1 p.m.