Following a tough loss to rival Churchill, the team has bounced back winning two out of their last three games. The boys are 5-3-1 on the season and hope to add more games to the win column.
The Patriots faced Clarksburg at home on Sept. 15 following a 1-0 loss to Churchill. Fueled from their previous loss, the boys came out dominant. Senior striker Benson Child led the team with two goals and an assist while senior right wing Alex Bellot, senior midfielder Gleb Mackay and junior midfielder Ryan Ullman all followed pursuit adding one goal each to the score. Child’s brace gave him nine goals on the season, something he is proud of. “I think I am playing my best year of soccer this year and I think that we can go far with the team we have,” Child said.
Bellot’s goal helped him rally four goals on the season in just six games.
Attempting to build off of their last win, the Patriots went up to Gaithersburg to face the Trojans on Sept. 20. Unfortunately, the result did not favor the boys, as the team fell to 3-3-1 on the season. Senior goalkeeper Dennis Johns let up two goals while the Patriots were unable to net one of their own. “They were not better than us and this is a game we are going to wish we could have back. We cannot expect to win if we can’t help our goalie out and score,” senior midfielder Victor De Avila said.
The boys’ next matchup was on Sept. 24 versus the Poolesville Falcons at home. The Falcons were fresh off a stunning 19-1 loss to the Quince Orchard Cougars and the game went just as expected for the team, winning 7-0. The first goal of the contest came from a goal from the new coming freshman, Andy Ram, his first of the season. But the scoring did not stop there. Child added yet again another two-goal performance, raising his total on the season to 11. He also accounted for one assist to MacKay. Junior Aarshan Sunda matched Child by netting two of his own. Johns, while not dressing as goalie this game, got a chance to play the field and took advantage by scoring one of his own, his first on the season.
Following the dominant win versus the Poolesville Falcons’, the team continued to shut teams out with a 2-0 win versus the Senca Valley Screaming Eagles. Despite winning, the boys’ played rather sloppy, unable to capatalize on plenty of good opportunities. However, Child tapped in a rebounder, adding another goal to his total this season and is up to a dominant 12 goals in just nine games. MacKay scored the second goal of the night, sealing the win, 2-0. “This was a good game but we were hoping to beat them by more,” senior Sean Ainloo said. “ We are playing Qunice Orchard on Thursday and must play way more crisp if we want to win that game.”
Despite the youth on the team this year the boys still believe. “We have enough talent this year to make noise,” Child said, while talking about a possible playoff run.
Quince Orchard is having a dominant year this year and the boys’ look to upset the courgars on Sept. 29 too late to be covered in this issue.

Dean Spitz

Sports Editor