Last Tuesday October 21st, the RD’s JV soccer squad took to the high school field to go up against the Indian Hills Braves.
It’s been an uphill battle for this group. Injuries have sat players, and multiple rough, tough games have ended in stalemates.
Despite their losses, the JV roster showed up eager and ready to play. Especially sophomore striker Ethan Miller, who made his return after an injury kept him out the past weeks.
“There’s a few great players you should watch out for. Luca Scalcione, Vince Esposito, Adrian Carbieda, and Ben Medesh,” said junior Ben Madesh, as he grinned from ear to ear.
The game started off slowly, as both teams seemed evenly matched. The Hawks pushed into the Braves half omultiple times, but no goals were scored.
The Hawks’ defense kept the Braves offense away from the Hawks’ net, allowing the Hawks’ offense to make continuous charges. The Braves were on the defense for nearly the entire first half.
The tide finally turned after a rogue pass from Indian Hills was intercepted by sophomore striker Anthony Sansanelli. He struck first, tapping the ball into the net and past the goalie for the first goal of the game.
After that, coach Hirsch made multiple substitutions, sending out three benched Hawks players. This included Ethan Miller.
Eager to be back, Miller played hard and rough, using his agility and speed to get the ball past the Braves’ defense.
After crashing through, he trotted into a nearly open back half of the Braves side and sent a thundering kick roaring into the back of the net, scoring a goal in the top corner building on the Hawks’ lead, 2-0.
The Hawks benched erupted, happy to see their teammate back in action, and scoring.
Hirsch made another set of substitutions, sending in Jackson McHugh and sophomore Karan Mehrvarz Zarei, who had never played in a game before.
“It feels good!” Zarei shouted.
Just as the first half was winding down, the Hawks made a mad dash for the Braves goal. McHugh, side by side with Zarei, darted down the field and kicked the ball straight into Indian Hills net. “This is the first goal of my soccer career of 10 years. I’m very hyped,” McHugh said afterward.
The whistle blew for halftime mere seconds after McHugh’s goal. The Hawks now had a healthy three-nil lead over the Braves.
Hirsch talked to his team in the huddle. “The main thing, going into the second half was that second effort, all three goals came from that, extra push, and energy to run through the ball and push through it, and to continue with that energy,” said Hersch after the game.
The next half began, and it was clear the Braves wouldn’t go down without a fight.
They came out hard, taking the offensive and keeping the ball within the Hawks’ half of the field for large chunks of time.
The Hawks were forced to play heavy defense and despite some rushes towards the Indian Hills net by sophomore Luka Budzakoski and Anthony Sansanelli, no one was able to shake up the score board.
In the middle of the second half, Coach Hirsch made another set of substitutions, sending Ethan Miller back into the game.
Miller once again showed off his fancy footwork, juking and weaving through defenders, and making multiple pushes into the Braves’ half of the field.
Finally, Miller rocketed another ball into the Braves’ net. His second goal set the score 4-0. “I haven’t scored a lot, particularly this season, so this feels really nice,” Miller said.
“Ethan had a great first game back!” Coach Hirsch exclaimed. “Two goals and one assist. This is something we haven’t seen very much of from our strikers this year.”
And this score would hold for the rest of the game, as neither the Braves nor Hawks offense could break the other’s defense. “This is our second win,” Sansanelli started. “They played aggressive, but we still won.”
“I think the team played really well as a whole. We made a lot of passes, and played together well,” Miller added to Sansanelli’s statement as he packed away his equipment.
“The team is great, there’s a lot of cool guys on the team, I’m glad we won,” Jackson McHugh agreed.
“We all showed up and showed we can win games with a passion,” said Luka Budzakoski.
No matter how hard it’s been for the JV Hawks this season, their comradery and brotherhood have kept them going and driven them through it.
This 4-0 victory rallied the troops and surely made everyone on the squad a little prouder to call themselves Hawks.
