Wildcats earn their second win of the season against Brewster.

   The weather couldn’t have been better for yesterday’s match against Brewster Academy. We sparred under a cloudless sixty-three-degree afternoon. However, Coach Custer and I experienced what felt like an afternoon with ominously dark rain clouds. With only seventeen field players on the team to begin with, and three of them on the DL, we were not over joyed to learn that another of our squad was in the Infirmary with a fever. Our first words to the boys were, “Okay, no one else is allowed to get hurt, or else!”

 

 We were really not so grim, but we were a mite nervous. The game with Brewster began as if both teams were circling each other to size up the competition. All play was confined to the middle half of the field and it never go near the boxes. Finally, with a throw-in by Trong Phan that mimicked a corner kick, Cam Plume broke the ice. Cam met the toss with eager excitement; however, he headed the ball with a bit too much force and sent it over the top. And yet, we had broken through the barrier. A minute later John Erwin passed the ball inside to Jonathan Li who shot wide. Then with twelve minutes into the first half, John made a hard run up the right side. He scooted past three defenders, drawing out the goalkeeper, and sent a finesse shot to the far corner to put us on the board.

 

 Over the next twenty-eight minutes the defenders did their job well and didn’t allow Max van Dijk to even touch the ball until there were only twelve minutes left in the half. Meanwhile John, Jonathan, and Bridger Close got several shots off. Trong sent a complete cannon blast at the keeper and, amazingly, the keeper was able to get a fist on it to deflect it out. Cam too had a great header off a pass from Jonathan, but the keeper was there to send it out of bounds. Freshmen Evan Crandlemire and Amir Lesbek both jumped into the fray and contributed smart passing and subtle ball control.

 

 At the half it was still only 1-0 KUA. The defensive line of Cody Nguyen, Alisdair MacPhail, Will Haynes, and Nick Wilder had shut down Brewster’s advances. While they looked good, it was in the second half when they earned their supper and displayed hustle, grit, determination, and a whole lot of bold skill.

 

 Three minutes into the second half, Cam noticed Trong making an attack and passed the ball up to him. Trong deftly got control and sent a grass burner next to the post and into the net to put us up by two. A few minutes later after a drive by John, Cam and Jonathan that was stopped by the keeper, Brewster’s offense broke though the midfield and breached our fullback line. But Nick Wilder suddenly appeared in the mix and snuffed any hope BA had for a shot on net. We had two more shots on goal, when, again, Brewster was on the attack and it looked like they would likely break through. But then again, Nick, as if out of nowhere, dashed in to foul they hopes. He then took advantage of a clear right side and brought the ball up and into the defensive box before passing the ball over to Jonathan, who took the shot. But this attempt was thwarted. KUA kept the pressure on with shots by Bridger and assists from Tom Huang and Kohki Shinohara. In one attempt, Kohki passed into Cam who chipped it up in front of the net where Jonathan stood with his back to the goal. Jonathan saw his moment of glory and attempted to mimic the great Pele´ with a bicycle kick….if it had worked, it would have been amazing; but unfortunately, the keeper was there to stop it from happening.

 

 Then with nineteen minutes spent, Tom brought the ball outside, passed it into Cam who slid it over to Jonathan, and Jonathan was able to finesse the ball into the back corner for our third goal.

 

 Meanwhile, Brewster was constantly trying to get in close, but most of Max’s saves occurred when he went on the attack and slid in to cover the ball (always impressive, but a move that always makes the keeper’s mom nervous). Alasdair and Will were an impressive force on the fullback wings and Cody hustled and set up plays in the middle. The final fifteen minutes of the game was recorded in this way:

-15 Tom shot from inside – keeper save

-14 Long shot on Max – save

-13 Long shot on Max, outside box – save

-12 Bridger long cross – Cam shot high

-11 Bridger header to Trong, shot – save

-10 Cam back to Bridger, long cross, Trong header – save

-8 Bridger, long run, shot – save

-7 After BA corner, shot high over Max

-4 Cam chip up to racing John, takes into the box & tackled

-3 John takes Penalty Kick. Low grass cutter to left post – GOAL # 4

-2 Bridger another shot – save

-1 Max makes sliding attack – save

Game Over

 

   Since I am a bit late in submitting this write-up (the Fire Brigade had three calls since the game ended, so we were distracted and busy!), I had the opportunity to talk with the boys and hear what they felt about the game. They were pleased, but definitely felt that Brewster had talent. Overall though, their reaction to the game was summed up by Cam when he exclaimed, “Coach, that game wiped me out. I think I was in bed and asleep by about 9:00!”

 

 I think that it is a positive sign that in the last two games we have scored eight times and six of the eight goals were scored by different players. This bodes well for the team!

 

   All these boys worked hard and showed great grit. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the opportunity to meet up again with Brewster this season. This Saturday we travel to White Mountain School to face them again; however, this time we face them on their home turf.