Last season the JV boys’ soccer team ended with a record of 5-3-1 after grinding hard all season to be the best they can. With a mostly new roster, the soccer team will need to come together and play with passion for every game.
The Patriots kicked off the season, Sept 11. The team fought a hard match against the Woodrow Wilson Tigers at home. A goal by freshman Ryan Linton set the team in the right direction. The Tigers fought tough and ended the game in a 1-1 tie. The team’s previous game against Poolesville was postponed to a later date due to the unsafe weather. The team’s current record is 0-0-2 two weeks into the season.
The team has three returning players from last year, one of them being the starting sophomore goalkeeper Matthew Kopsidas. Kopsidas is ready to have a big season in goal. The athletic sophomore is ready to, ”stop every ball that is shot and to let no goals in,” he said.
The team played against rival Churchill Sept. 14. The game ended in a 1-1 tie after a physical match between the two teams. Sophomore midfielder Francis Meyer struck a penalty kick with minutes remaining in the second half, sending the game into overtime. After the penalty kick flew past Churchill’s goaltender, “the team was filled with hope, and the intensity level shot right up,” Meyer said.
Even though the game ended in a tie, Coach Kraig Bauer was pleased with how the team fought. The boys played with heart and,“ a commitment in urgency that was necessary and that’s why for the run of the game we were actually the better team,” Bauer said.
With a record of 0-0-2, the boys are feening for their first win of the season. The squad has a tough match up away against the Clarksburg Coyotes on Sept. 18. The boys team fell to the Coyotes, losing zero to one. They fought hard all game but couldn’t get away with dub. The defense and goal-tending kept the boys close all game. The teams record sums up to 0-1-2, still fighting to achieve their first win of the season.
Aaron Strauss
Staff Writer