GW defeats Rural Retreat in soccer

By NANCY DEMORY/Correspondent

Cross county soccer rivals George Wythe Maroons and Rural Retreat Indians faced off in a contest for pride and district standing at Indian stadium on Tuesday evening, with both varsity and junior varsity games.
George Wythe won the varsity game 8-3 and also won the JV game 9-0.
With seasons winding down, both varsity teams are headed for district playoffs, with the Maroons first in the district and the Indians second.  The Indians have an overall record of 8-6, and came into this game fresh from a win over Fort Chiswell the previous week.
The JV Indians came into the game looking for their first season win, fresh from a close loss of 3-2 to Bland on Monday evening.
Though experience and team work were beginning to pay off, the young Indians were no match for the Maroons. With Jeremy Stepp, the JVs regular goalie drafted to the varsity for these games, his replacement Jesse Koch, got a baptism by fire from the fast shooting junior Maroons. The Indian defensive line of Meghan Umberger, Brandi Pruitt, Brandi Cline, and Katrina Hales worked as a team but despite their best efforts, George Wythe’s forward Cameron Nye managed to get the ball in the net three times, and Wiliam Ballard sent in another two. Indians forward Alli Spracker racked up five interceptions and a steal, The score at halftime stood at 3-0.
Fed the ball by midfielder Leanne Horney, Indian Tyler Shumate , a late comer to the team, and Chris Mulgrew got in some good shots in the second half, but Maroon goalie Tanner Price did not miss a single ball that the Indians sent to the net.
The pace picked up in the second half with Ballard sending in some high goals in the last 10 minutes and Nye pushing in the final score.
In the end, the Maroons’ muscle and experience wore down the improved but not yet experienced Indians, and George Wythe JV was triumphant winning over the JV Indians by 9-0.
The Maroons and Indians varsity match up followed a similar path, with a low scoring and well defended first half. Rookie Indian Goalie Jeremy Stepp played his first complete varsity game, and held his own in the early going.
Maroon Andrew Meade struck first at 10 minutes into the game with a low corner shot.
The Maroons’ second score was a classic header by Josh Stephens, followed quickly by a punch in by Cody Burgess.
Then George Wythe cooled off, and Indian mid-fielders Lucas Lyall, David Harrison and Brian Rider shut down the offense for a while.
Indian Spencer Collins sent a long kick past George Wythe goalie Tanner Price.  A rough and tumble first half ended with the score 3-1 for the Maroons.
In the second half, the pace stepped up, and scoring broke open for the Maroons. The Indians shooters could not buy a goal despite heavy shooting by Terry Mutter and Spencer Shillig. Shillig did connect for one goal.
It was hard work for forward Terry Mutter, who saw a couple of heart breakers miss by inches, and ran up against a hard Maroons defense.
Troy Bise pushed in the final Indian goal. Maroon Robert Yonce contributed two scores, and when the game ended, the score stood at 8 to 3 in favor of the Maroons.
The varsity teams will meet again in the regional playoffs beginning at the end of May.