Boys' Soccer Controls Game Against Holderness

This past Monday, Big Red’s boys’ soccer defeated Holderness School’s varsity squad 2-0. Although senior Sterling Weatherbie, one of the two co-captains of the team, could not participate in the game due to his concussion, the team set several milestones and added another impressive victory to its season record.In the first half, postgraduate and center back Liam Mckersie scored the second goal off of a corner kick, breaking the ice for the rest of the players. During the second half, senior and co-captain Ted Hart scored the second goal, leading to the team’s win.“We came out hard on a Monday night and played well against Holderness,” senior and left midfielder Max Rerkpattanapipat said.  “We controlled the game by possessing the ball for most of the game which led to a lot of opportunities on goal. We [also] had a lot of outstanding plays where we connected a number of passes which ultimately led to great looks at goal.”Other players noted, however, that the game against Holderness encompassed numerous changes to the team. Lower Quintin DiStefano noted that, without Weatherbie, the team’s reserve players had to step up and fight for the ball against the opponents.“A lot of guys had to come off the bench on Monday, and they all played well,” DiStefano said. “We got 100% from all our bench players, they hustled to the last second, making the game a lot more fast paced.”Upper Henry Behrens echoed DiStefano’s sentiments and said that upper Devin Moore and lower Tamer Sullivan filled the gap in the midfield left by Weatherbie. He added that although Holderness’ offense and midfield consistently challenged Exeter’s defense, Big Red’s players, Liam Bradley and Liam McKersie blocked all advances successfully before the opponents reached the half line, which concluded the game with a 2-0 win.“Devin Moore and Tamer Sullivan stepped up to make sure we controlled the middle,” Behrens said. “Although their number 10 was an exceptional player and their midfield was stacked, we continued to defend successfully in Monday’s game and move the ball as a team, so we got a lot of offensive chances.”Behrens also added that because of the defense’s success, the offense consequently combated with ease. “Because we continued to defend successfully in Monday’s game and move the ball as a team, we got a lot of offensive chances,” he said.DiStefano said that Hart’s goal was a definite highlight of the game. He emphasized that Hart was unable to connect his chances to a goal for a while in the game, and his goal helped the team’s morale as well as his.“Captain Ted's goal was probably the most memorable part of the game. Ted was working hard all game, but struggled to find the net. He put us ahead by 2 to cruise to the win.”Behrens added that McKersie’s header was another milestone of the game because it marked the first goal off of a corner kick.“Liam McKersie scored another goal on a header that came off of a corner kick, and that was our first corner kick goal, even though we have five to six corner kicks a game,” Behrens said.Rerkpattanapipat said that there are a few aspects of the team’s performance that players need to focus on. He also added, however, that the game was still an impressive and pleasant accomplishment.“We can continue to work on minimizing fouls in our own half of the field but we have been improving in that area,” Rerkpattanapipat said. “[However,] it was an amazing game by our defense, who we have every reason to trust, and it was a satisfying win for the team.”