Despite heavy rainfall, Mount Airy still played soccer Monday night, defeating Winston-Salem Prep 9-0.

The Granite Bears ended the game early in the second half due to the nine-point mercy rule.

The turf itself wasn’t in that bad a shape, said Coach Will Hurley, but the wet grass made the ball very slippery. Kicks didn’t always go where aimed, and the ball sometimes had a tricky curve.

The hardest part of the weather might have been the cool temperature, he noted. Fifty degrees seemed very cold after being acclimated to 80 degrees.

Hurley said he was a little concerned about how his team would fare on defense as it was missing three starters, including team co-captain Carlos Carrillo.

Hunter Clawson and Ian Halpern really stepped up on defense, he said. When the Bears earned a penalty kick, Halpern converted for his first-ever high school goal.

“And hats off to Daylon Shaw,” he added. The senior had two assists and one goal.

Co-captain Mitchell Brown led the scoring with three goals and an assist. Sam Watson provided two goals and two assists. Cristian Maldonado also scored twice.

One assist each came from Corey Valentine, Hyordann Ragoutia and Cristian Cabrera.

It was a good overall team effort, said Hurley.

The Bears improved to 12-4-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the Northwest Conference. Mount Airy is one game ahead of East Surry for the top 1A team in the Northwest.

Today, the Bears host the top 2A team in the league, West Stokes. The Wildcats started the season 0-4-1 in nonconference play, but are undefeated at 8-0-1 in the Northwest.

The Bears still have five more games to go after this match and will hold Senior Night on Oct. 18 against South Stokes. The season finale is Oct. 24 at East Surry.

Reach Jeff Linville at jlinville@heartlandpublications.com or at 719-1920.