Remembering the 5-0 loss that the Mathews High School varsity soccer team suffered last season at the hands of the AA Bruton Panthers, the Devils went out onto the pitch last Wednesday with the desire and determination to prevent it from happening again. But, in the end, Mathews suffered another shutout loss, this time 3-0.

In an early defensive struggle, Mathews held off Bruton for much of the first half, with only a lucky goal and a questionable penalty kick making it past goalie Jacob Maggioncalda and the stout Mathews defense. At the end of the first half, Mathews was trailing by two goals, but had not given up and looked for ways to counter.

The second half was a little more interesting and became very tumultuous with a total of nine yellow cards and a red card given to players on both teams and, at 12 minutes left in the second half, a yellow card given to Bruton High School’s coach. At one point, it seemed like players on both teams were getting yellow card...