University High’s soccer team recently honored its senior class during halftime of a home match against Hampton High School at ETSU’s Summers Taylor Stadium. The result of the contest was a 6-0 victory that improved the Bucs to 12-3 on the season, helping them lock up their first conference title since 2013.
Defender Austin Baines and fellow seniors Malachi Heath and Walker Page, who play midfielder and forward, have helped lead the Bucs to one of their most successful seasons to date and have been part of four straight winning campaigns.
Each of the seniors has earned individual awards throughout their career that include team awards, all-district and all-region team selections in different TSSAA classifications as well as statewide and national recognition. All three have also earned academic awards from the 14th best academic high school in Tennessee according to U.S. News and World Report magazine’s latest annual rankings.
Heath was recognized as the player of week in Tennessee by MaxPreps national high school website this season while Page was recognized in 2016 by the website as one of the nation’s top high school freshman that year. Last season as a junior, Page was honored by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association as a member of the 2018 TWSA All-State Soccer Team.
Over the last four years, University High’s soccer team has compiled a record of 40-17-1, scoring 278 goals to date. Co-captains Heath and Page have a combined total of 117 goals and 76 assists for UH, accounting for 69 percent of the program’s total offense production during the last four years. Baines, meanwhile, has led a defense that has helped produce 20 shutouts victories during that same timespan.
This year, the Bucs have outscored their opponents 69-16 in 15 games, placing them among Tennessee’s leading scoring teams for all TSSAA classifications with a 4.6 goals-per-game average.
