Wildcats Snatch Victory Away From the Huskies in an Amazing Way..
Wednesday’s game against New Hampton School on their home field was an exciting one. While the day was overcast, the weather held around sixty degrees and made for a beautiful afternoon. However, when we arrived, we were enervated and lethargic from the hour and a half drive and the big lunch we had eaten after attending class. It took us a while to pull our socks on, shift our shin guards, and adjust our cleats before we could focus on warming up. This, almost more than anything, can fire Coach up, and he let the boys know that we needed to be full-in from the first play. Our track record for exemplary play within the first few minutes of the game has been a bit dismal. I can’t say that the boys were completely awake and listening, for it took us a good six minutes into the first half we got anywhere near the net. Finally, Jonathan Li took the first shot of the game from the eighteen but sent the ball over the bar.
Eventually, we found a rhythm and we began seeing shots from Cam Plume, Trong Phan, and Cody Nguyen, but these went wide or into the keeper’s hands. John Erwin, too, moved the ball up the side well and chipped a couple of passes into Yohan Do and Tom Huang who tried their luck. We were beginning to dominate most of the play.
The Huskies, however, did have some strong and fast forwards and they kept our defensive line a busy. Brian Lee was a force on the left side, while Will Haynes battled on the right. They shut most plays down, well before our eighteen; yet for those drives that did venture in close, Nick Wilder was an indomitable machine! Nobody could get past him. Time after time, his quick feet and well-calculated attacks thwarted any effort to get in close. The first time our keeper touched the ball, came from a long lob from the center of the field. In the whole first half Andrew Alexandrescu, who was finally able to play for us, touched the ball only three times and only once did he have a legitimate save to show off his talents.
With twelve minutes left in the half, New Hampton earned a foul just inside our half. Cody lined up to kick it while the rest of our team assembled and were ready. What came next was probably the most amazing direct kick and header I have ever seen at this level. The ball sailed in, just above the penalty marker. The goalkeeper attacked and attempted to get a hand on it, but Cam Plume was ready with a header and redirect the ball nicely into the upper corner of the net to put us up by one. It was a phenomenal play!
In the final minutes of the half we got to see Sam Lower, finally off the DL, jump into the fray, and he had two shots from passes from Jonathan Li. Evan Crandlemire and Amir Lesbek also helped to contribute their talents, and both had shots from the outside. As the halftime whistle blew, we were ahead, but we were only up by one.
During our halftime speeches we stressed the need to stay focused and to not get cocky with our one goal. New Hampton had played hard and showed us that they had the capability to get in close and put one on the board. The boys were in good spirits and happy with our level of play and as we began the second half, they continued to display tremendous skill and determination.
Kohki Shinohara and Alisdair MacPhail definitely showed off their talents and speed in the second half. Kohki was a solid anchor on the right midfield and Alisdair (with his outstanding speed) was everywhere, putting pressure on the offense.
Andrew got to see a few more shots up close as the Huskies earned a few direct kicks and a couple of corner kicks, but his quick reactions and smart position kept the balls out of the net. Only once, with just eight minutes left in the game, did we worry. New Hampton took advantage of an opportunity at the top of the box and blasted the ball at our net. Andrew jumped high to deflect it, but the ball went over his head and, thankfully, slammed hard against the crossbar. We were able to get control and send it out of the danger zone.
At the final whistle, it was only Cam and Cody’s amazing shot that gave us the win, but we were happy to take it. The game was exciting, and our boys played extremely well together. As Coach has said time and time again, “This is an amazing crew.” They like to play together, and it makes both practices and games fun.
This Saturday we will head down the road to Exeter. Unfortunately, three of our boys will be suffering through SATs beforehand. We can only hope that, since Exeter is not a junior prep like Cardigan, that maybe one or two of their players will arrive at the game as fuzzy as ours.
