Boys’ Thirds Soccer faced off against Cheshire Academy in a game sponsored by the Boar Pen, something that isn’t exactly normal for a thirds level game, but the team showed up in front of its largest crowd of the season. The numbers on the scoreboard did not represent how the game was played: Choate only won 2-0, but they had at least 15 shots on goal and had numerous other scoring opportunities throughout the course of the game.
Co-captain and starting center back Ian Mentz ’19 said, “We were a little disorganized at the start because we had some regular starters unable to start, but as the game went on, we collected ourselves and played pretty well as a result.”
Raddin Ivanov ’19, one of the team’s top defenders and co-captains, started in goal and subbed out at the half. He didn’t face many shots, but he made couple of nice plays and helped coordinate the back line. In the first half, Choate had plenty of opportunities, including an excellent cross by Brendan Sullivan ’20 and a great shot by Guillermo Antunez Tierney ’21. Ryan Kim ’20 and Kyn Toh ’20 also created some great offensive chances. The first goal of the game was scored by Rodrigo Navarro ’20 off an excellent pass by Mentz. The crowd went crazy as Choate took a lead that it would never surrender to their opponents.
At the start of the second half, the Choate boys looked even better. The team had even more scoring opportunities than in the first. Mentz ripped a shot that just missed the top left corner of the net, and minutes later Calvin Walker ’21 took a shot that looked to be on target until it narrowly cleared the crossbar. As each shot was just missed or was saved, the fans began to get anxious as the game was still close. Ivanov came back into the game as a midfielder and scored the second goal of the game off a beautiful pass by Mentz. The crowd went absolutely wild and it seemed to energize the team even more.
Tommy Murillo ’19, who is a Co-captain and key defensive starter, said, “We went out there and dominated the field, which is something we can do when we focus and communicate well.”
The entire rest of the game was played in the Cheshire half of the field, and any progress they made was eliminated by Eric Li ’20 and Murillo. Even more impressive is the fact that Murillo and Ivanov donated blood just hours before the game, which is know to cause both fatigue and nausea. Antunez Tierney made some excellent plays with the ball, but he was continuously tackled and hounded by the Cheshire team. Every foul that Cheshire committed just excited the crowd even more. Feeding off the energy from the crowd, the boys put together a great attack as Sullivan found himself wide open with the ball and only the goalie left. He took a great shot that bounced off the post and led to another scoring opportunity. As the final whistle blew, the crowd cheered s and the team celebrated an excellent win. After the game, Ivanov said, “The team’s biggest strength is the dominant midfield and a very solid defense, which I think showed today.”
Boys’ Thirds Soccer still has games against Taft, Avon, and Loomis Chaffee with the season culminating in a huge matchup at Deerfield, where they will surely face one of their toughest opponents of the year. Already accumulating five wins, three losses, and two ties, these games could be the difference between a winning and losing record.
