Demon boys shut out Mt. Pleasant

MT. PLEASANT — A red-hot start to the Washington boys soccer season continued on Monday evening at East Lake Park in Mt. Pleasant. The Demons finished off the season sweep of the Panthers with a 2-0 shutout victory.

It was Washington’s sixth win in a row this season, and the Demons’ fourth-straight win over the rival Panthers.

Fredy Aguilar opened the scoring immediately, putting in an early goal for the Demons. Washington’s only other goal came with 12:11 remaining in the first half, with Emre Akgul made it 2-0.

Freshman Brendan Taylor had one assist for the Demons.

“Overall I'm happy with how the team played today,” said Washington head coach Sally Hart. “I thought we moved the ball around well, and I thought we rotated well.”

Mt. Pleasant hampered down on defense, anchored by goalkeeper Rudy Ruiz Motta, who turned away shot after shot against a Demon squad that peppered the net with shots all game long.

“Kudos to the Mt. Pleasant keeper,” said Hart. “He had some great saves.”

It was Mt. Pleasant’s seventh loss in a row, but the Panthers showed improvement, especially considering a 7-0 loss to the Demons earlier this season.

“We played good defense,” said Mt. Pleasant head coach Neil Schmitz. “It was probably our best game so far.”

Washington is now 8-1 overall this year and 5-1 in conference play. They’ll host Fort Madison on Thursday. Mt. Pleasant (2-9, 0-6) will play at Keokuk.