10/24/24 Highlight: Boys’ Varsity Soccer

By LOGAN BECKERLE, SEBASTIAN DUARTE, and MARVIN SHIM

On Friday, Oct. 11, the boys varsity soccer team took on Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) in an away thriller. The team secured a 2-2 tie, shooting Big Red up in the rankings. 

While a tie against a top-ranked team may seem like a win to some, the majority of the players have expressed dissatisfaction with this outcome. Lower Josh Mullen said, “Our team was not satisfied with the tie. Going into the game we were looking to get a win, especially since we are going into the last parts of our season.” 

Mullen continued, “A win would strengthen our odds of a position in the playoffs and so our entire season felt like it was on the line. Coming out with a tie was disappointing but also motivating for our team for the next few matches since we’re always looking to improve.”

Upper Alex Sahinoglu echoed a similar sentiment. “NMH is a very solid team. Although we didn’t get the result we wanted, we will take the tie and continue our push to the playoffs.”

While players were dissatisfied with the outcome, they were excited to see how they were playing and they are excited for the rest of the season. “We had a showing of great talent as individuals and as a team. We will focus on the good that happened in the game and use it as momentum to the next games. We are a team full of passion and a great bond as teammates,” Sahinoglu continued. 

Team chemistry is one of the most important parts of a team sport like soccer. Sahnoglu explained, “My favorite moment was our first goal. We displayed our teamwork and chemistry and connected many passes which led to the header goal. I think our technical ability and our ability to connect passes as a team was where we excelled. We struggled when we went up 2-0 and laid our foot off the gas. After NMH’s first goal we broke down, which is something that we will continue to work on in the future.” 

Mullen believes that this was simply a learning experience for the young team. “I think something that we all learned is that we have to act like our season is on the line because it really was.” he explained. “Being up two to zero I felt like we should’ve been more defensive minded, but we weren’t able to make the change quick enough which I think was the reason that the game resulted in a tie.”

Next on the schedule for Big Red is Dexter Southfield, who Exeter hopes to beat to help  their journey of securing a spot in the NEPSAC postseason.