Soccer Puts Up a Fight against Loomis

This Saturday, the boys’ varsity soccer team travelled two and a half hours south to face off against Loomis Chaffee. Loomis is reputably one of the strongest teams in the league, and according to co-captain Silas Lane, they recruit more players than most teams. Though there was a slim chance of the boys taking back a win, they still gave it their best effort to the very end, returning home with a tough loss of 5-1.There was a general consensus among the team that they had struggled through the first half of the game. The boys associated their hardship with a lack of teamwork. However, they quickly learned from their mistakes. As the game continued, the boys’ chemistry grew. Lower Jake Gehron noted that, “We started to work together rather than individually.” The team gained possession of the ball, and scored its first goal of the season.

“I don’t think we should let this game discourage and define us for the rest of the season.”

Working off of the notion that teamwork was the ultimate source of success, the team tried to implement equal playing time among the grades. By putting in the preps to play, they made the team deeper and more experienced as a whole. As people say, a team is only as strong as its weakest link.Something that co-captain and senior Dolapo Adedokun noticed during the game was the team’s perseverance. “The most positive thing I saw was that no one quit the game.” This shows that the team’s attitude is in the right place, and all that needs to be improved is how they are on the field.Moving on from the loss, the team is looking to hold their heads high for the rest of the season. Adedokun says, “I don’t think we should let this game discourage and define us for the rest of the season.”Co-captain and senior Silas Lane echoed Adedokun’s sentiments. “I think everyone knows we can play better and get good results, it’s just a matter of growing and performing in games we can win.”To generate more wins throughout the season, the boys will have to work on their skills. Postgraduate Tiago Schwartz commented on some of the aspects they work on at practice. “We’ve been working a lot on our defensive shape and creating chances in the attack.”The boys are still looking to snag a few wins throughout the season. “We want to get a good run of wins and our next couple games are an opportunity to get a start on that,” Lane said.Big Red’s next boys’ soccer game is on Wednesday at Belmont Hill. They will use this game as a chance to redeem themselves from last week’s close game against Belmont Hill. Hopefully the team is able to turn things around and gain momentum for the rest of the season.