The Swain High School Maroon Devils soccer team hosted the Cherokee Braves on Monday night for Senior Night. The Maroon Devils would take the 8-0 win.
Before the game, the team’s nine seniors were recognized for their contributions to the soccer program. This year’s seniors are Andrae Aguilera, Edwin Lezama, Maclane Whorton, Oliver Reyes, James Sanchez, Mason Moore, Brendan Lanning, Max Wilmot and Clayton Shuler.
Eight minutes into the first half, Moore found the back of the net for the first goal of the game with Clayton Shuler tallying his first assist of the night. Twenty-four minutes in, Lanning found Moore for his second goal. The scoring kept going.
Just a minute later, Shuler chipped the ball to Wilmot, who would get his first goal in his high school career.
At the 26-minute mark, Shuler added his goal off a pass from Lezama. The Devils were not done yet.
Moore landed another goal with 15 minutes left to play, connected off a corner from Lanning. Moore had a hat trick in the first half.
Junior Evan Hall entered the game with 11 minutes to play, and the back of the net from outside the 18-yard box. Shuler got his final assist of the night. The Devils went into the second half up by six.
Eleven minutes into the second half, Sanchez passed to Reyes, who netted his first goal of the season. With eight minutes left, Sanchez sent the ball to Shuler who delivered with his second goal on the night. That would finish up the scoring for the Devils.
“It was great to see the whole team do a great job of moving the ball around the field. It was also great to see all the seniors play,” said Head Coach Kyndall Cochran. “The seniors accounted for seven of our eight goals in the game.”
Defense was led by Wilmot with nine clears/steals. He was followed by Lanning with eight, and Moore with six.
In goal, junior Matthew Evans had a shutout in the first half, and sophomore Port Sontheimer had a shutout in the second half.
The Player of the Game for the Devils was Andrae Aguilera.
“Andrae is a senior this year, and never played soccer for Swain until this year. He is very hard working and played great on senior night,” said Cochran.
The Devils remain in second place in the Smoky Mountain Conference with an 8-3 conference record and a 9-7-1 overall record. The Maroon Devils’ next home game is Oct. 30 at 6 p.m. against the Highlanders.
First, the Devils traveled to Highlands Wednesday, Oct. 23 for a 6 p.m. game (after press time). This is the first time they will play this season. Highlands sits in first place in the conference standings.