Demon boys fall to rivals

The Mt. Pleasant boys? soccer team got back on track on Monday evening at East Lake Park in Mt. Pleasant, when they defeated Washington by the score of 4-2.

The Panthers got an extra boost with the return of Zoom Gwamna, who has missed a few games recently due to away track and field meets. The senior made his presence known early, kick starting Mt. Pleasant with a goal two minutes and 50 seconds into the game to make it 1-0.

Ten minutes later Jack Pieper was able to settle the ball enough to launch a deep shot from straight on, past two defenders and the Washington goalkeeper and into the left side of the net for a 2-0 advantage.

Mt. Pleasant continued to get the majority of the scoring chances as the clock wound down in the first half, and Tanner Ruby gave the Panthers some more breathing room, sending a pass from Ryan Hutchinson into the left side of the net before halftime to make the score 3-0 at the break.

Washington?s Joe Smith sent an early second half corner kick into a group of players in front of the net, and Washington?s Giovanni Coronel was able to get enough on a shot to slip the ball past Panther goalie Noah Brown.

The Demons continued to put on pressure, playing with a newfound energy. The Demons had three big chances while the game was at 3-1 that didn?t find the net.

With 5:11 left in the game, the Demons were finally able to get a ball by Brown. Andreas Gutierrez pulled up from deep and sent a laser of a shot that buckled up Brown and cut the lead to 3-2.

The Panthers would answer quickly, as Tanner Ruby fired at an open net with 4:26 left in the game.

The Demons were unable to cut into the 2-goal Panther lead and Mt. Pleasant moved to 4-3 on the year, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Mt. Pleasant, who also moved to 2-2 in the SEC, will try to get another win over Fairfield on Thursday, April 30. The Panthers defeated the Trojans 5-4 in Fairfield in their second game of the season.

Washington fell to 1-4 with the loss and are 0-4 in conference. The Demons will try to snap a four-game skid in their next game, which is also on Thursday, when they host Mediapolis.