Collin Richards ’15
On Tuesday, September 17th, the St. Edward Eagles Varsity Soccer team took on the Ignatius Wildcats at Wasmer field. The game was a highly anticipated rematch as we had beaten Ignatius in the District finals last year. From the first whistle, the game was fast-paced and intense, the rivalry in essence. The game had a great turnout and the green-out was a perfect counter to their gold-out. The Eagles went down early in the first half when a more than questionable foul was called in the box resulting in a penalty kick and subsequently a goal. Despite the continuous well play of the Eagles, the Wildcats scored once more before the first half ended. Head Coach James Duffy came in clutch with a motivating half-time speech that prepared us to fight for the next forty minutes until the end of the game. We put a lot of pressure on them at the start, and early into the second half we got the reward. Junior Julian Castro on a break slipped the ball past the Ignatius goalkeeper into the back of the net. He said the key was to not let any pressure get to him and stay cool with his game. Unfortunately, the referee thought Julian’s celebration was taunting and issued him a yellow card. I am sure that being an Ignatius alum had nothing to do with this decision and that there is no coincidence that every referee ever to officiate a game at Wasmer happens to have graduated from a high school across from Wendy’s. Nevertheless, the Eagles did not let up. Soon after, Junior Chris Allen was able to hit the equalizer and despite the chants from the opposing student section, the Wildcats were rattled. Chris ran to the much more rowdy and way better-looking Eagle student section to get them hyped for the remainder of the game. The physicality of the game was turned up for the final twenty minutes in an absolute battle for the win. Players on the field and coming off the bench put all they had into the fight. Senior Patrick Darby had this to say, “It really showed what our team is made of to come back from a two goal deficit at half-time. We all showed a lot of heart.” The game ended in a 2-2 draw, a repeat of last year’s regular season matchup. For those disappointed in the tie, I personally apologize. I figure we will face them again in the playoffs so I wanted to save my next gamewinner till then. The Eagles Varsity Soccer team still remains undefeated.
