Hart Duo Lifts Big Red Soccer Over St. Paul's

EXETER, NH - The boys’ varsity soccer team played St. Paul’s School this Wednesday looking for their first official win of the season.Trying to rebound from a tough 3-0 loss on Saturday against Loomis, the boys took the field with special motivation and put up a strong performance, dictating the tempo throughout the game and coming away with an uplifting 2-1 victory against their rivals.Senior Spencer Reaves reflected upon Saturday’s loss and what the team did in order to find the outcome they were looking for.“We changed our formation a little and put our center back [PG Logan Sandor] as a holding defensive mid, which really helped us control the midfield. That was a big problem on Saturday. We played well, but we went down early and lost our momentum,” Reaves said.Senior David Zhao also commented on the early-season switches. “After the loss against Loomis [on Saturday], we put [senior] Henry Stevens up top so we could get it to him, and he could dish it off.”The team’s progress showed almost immediately in the first half, and they were early able to create plenty of scoring chances. They dominated the first half by keeping possession of the ball and keeping up the pressure on the St. Paul’s starting eleven. Within twelve minutes they scored their first goal after a nice counter-attack, with senior Henry Hart finishing the shot.Throughout the rest of the half, both the teams played physically and aggressively, but Big Red held strong to keep the score at 1-0 at halftime.At the beginning of the second half, upper Ted Hart scored the second goal for the boys after a nice through ball from senior Henry Stevens.“It was a great game for the Hart family,” lower Trevor Cosgrove said. “Henry Hart finessed the ball into the lower left-hand corner and Ted Hart put his upper body into the shot, powering it through the goalie.”It was clear that the St. Paul’s team was not ready for the level of effort displayed by Big Red. “We were very physical today and they had a hard time handling that,” Reaves said.The team had a chance to make it 3-0 later on in the second half, when Big Red got off a shot on goal after St. Paul’s keeper had been lured out of the net. A St. Paul’s defender deflected it out of bounds with his hand, however, and the referee pointed to the spot and awarded Exeter with a penalty kick. While this was a good chance for PEA, the team was confused by the ruling, since a red card is usually awarded for a hand ball that prevents a goal.“The kid dove and punched it out. He was supposed to get a red card,” Zhao said.Stevens stepped up to the penalty spot to take the kick, but unfortunately the shot was saved by the St. Paul’s goalkeeper. This moment spurred on the St. Paul’s team, who netted a goal later in the half off of a corner kick.Despite their efforts, the St. Paul’s team couldn’t scrape up another goal, giving the boys the win that they deserved.Upper Sterling Weatherbie felt that this game was a good experience for the boys. “[We] always have things to work on. I thought we came together and beat a big St. Paul’s team.”Big Red is looking forward to Saturday’s match, when they will head off to Holderness looking for their second win of the season.