Venimus, vidimus, vicimus

KUA 9 Proctor 0

 

 

  It was hard to believe that only a week earlier we were soaking wet and freezing.  Today as we stepped on to the turf field in Proctor, the weather was gorgeous: sunny, warm, and bright.  We had been to Proctor once before this year to play against the JV1 team; that was a great match up and we lost by only one goal (1-2).  This day we were scheduled to face the JV2 squad for the first time.

  The day looked promising, as Vinnie Quattrocchi was immediately able to gain control of Proctor’s kick-off play and rushed it up the field.  Less then two minutes later, Noah Ramos sent a corner kick into the middle of the box to an awaiting Henry Pletcher, who headed it in and put KUA on the board.  This goal was followed up seventy seconds later with a second goal.  This time Vasili Katsarakes dribbled by (his usual) three players before crossing the ball to Vinnie who was in the middle.  Vinnie put the ball up and into the top left corner.

  Several more drives were made in close to Proctor’s end.  Hayes Huwiler fought scrappily right in front of the net, but was ultimately thwarted by the keeper.  Myles Shepard was also able to get a shot in, but this too was stopped.  Then with thirty minutes fifty-two seconds left in the first half, Noah threw the ball in to Hayes who passed it to Vinnie and he put a finesse shot by the keeper.

  The defensive line of Sawyer Constantine, Lee Cogan, Jay Cogan and Rex Miller had done such a great time that the ball never even entered our box until twenty-two minutes in the half.  They were calm and solid defensively and both Sawyer and Lee carried the ball from our end deep within Proctor’s to take shots.  New midfielders showed off their talents.  Alex Cohen sent a hard drive that just missed and Isaac Wang’s left-footed shot went wide.  Nihat Alizade and Alex Ussler also kept the keeper busy with their attempts for a goal.  Despite a defensive shift that added Jeremy Sigl, Jonah Silverman, Cameron Stowell, and Jacob Weiss, “the wall” kept Proctor from getting in close did not falter.

  With eight minutes left in the half, Isaac sent a pass up to Myles who was in the middle.  Myles turned and went head-to-head with the keeper, maintaining his cool the whole time.  He was able to deke the keeper and put a finesse shot into the net.  Finally in the last five minutes of the period, Xavier Manning is able to grab a legitimate save from a direct shot.  He ended the half having touched the ball only three times.  The first half ended with an incredible save by Proctor’s keeper who was able to stop a one-on-one, up close, ball kicked by Alex Ussler.

  We had to regroup.  Our strategy for the second half was to send long deep crosses from the corner into the middle for heads or close-in plays, but that didn’t always work.  The second half went as follows:  35:50 Hayes sends a cross into the mix in the middle and Henry Pletcher gained control, turned, and scored.  33:23 Henry gained the ball from a rebound in the middle and sent a long shot into the upper corner earning his third Hat Trick of the season. 29:01 Noah sent a long cross from the corner and Alex Cohen drove it in.  24:34 Isaac passed the ball up to Hayes who was near the keeper, but put it into the top of the net.  Pass after pass was sent in to Khoi Pham who tried many times, but just couldn’t put one in.  3:48 Vasili passed to Jeremy who put the ball into the top of the net for his first goal of the season.

  As the trees in the west finally shaded the bright sun, the final whistle was heard.  Although the score was not how we usually like to see it, we had seen some of our best passing of the season and the largest variety of players take shots.  Both teams hustled throughout and played a clean game.

  As of right now, we are slated to play one more match together as a team: we face off against an undefeated JV1 squad at Vermont Academy a week from this Saturday.  We hope you can make it.