On the evening of Thursday, March 29, the varsity boys’ soccer team fought against the Anderson Trojans in the first round of playoffs, hoping to get their first bi-district playoff win in nearly four years, and ending the night with an astounding victory for the Warriors with a score of 1-0. While both teams fought hard, it became a tense battle between the two teams that ended in the Warriors’ advantage.

“It’s a very exciting thing to do, we won our first round of playoffs and everyone just went out with everything they got, played their hardest, and we came out with a win,” Nikola Djordjevic ‘21 said.

Several passes were made by Lalo Rodriguez ‘19 to Skylar Cupit ‘18 and Philip Richardson ‘20, before Djordjevic scored the first and only goal of the night just six minutes into the game, bringing the Warriors ahead of the Trojans by one point. Then Avi Kacker ‘19 successfully blocked an attempted goal by a Trojans offender that initially prevented the Trojans from gaining a point. With the first half coming to an end, the Warriors continued to push through Trojan defense with numerous attempts at the goal by Djordjevic, but it was short lived due to a Trojan player interference. It wasn’t until Justin Lang ‘20 executed an effective save of the ball in the last eight seconds that the first half was ultimately sealed for the Warriors, who maintained a 1-0 lead over the Trojans by halftime.

Going into the second half, the Warriors continued to show determination as Jack Elliott ‘19 performed a successful block of a Trojans ball that was just inches from the goal, which prevented the Trojans from gaining a point early on in the second half. This was followed by an attempted kick at the goal by Oliver Harris ‘18, who received a corner kick made by Felipe Centeno ‘19. As the second half was coming to a close, the intensity of the game increased as the Trojans made several attempts to keep the ball in their possession, but that wasn’t enough as Caden Popps ‘18 successfully stole the ball from a Trojans offender, giving the Warriors the ball with minutes until the end. While both teams made every attempt to score another goal neither one was able to add a point to the game, ending the night favoring the Warriors with a final score of 1-0.

“It’s my freshman year, and I’m very lucky to have made the playoffs. It’s a great experience and I hope to keep going and play many more playoff games as well as next year,” Djordjevic said.

Catch the varsity boys’ at Bryan’s Merrill Green Stadium on Tuesday, April 3, at 7:30 p.m. as they continue their journey in the second round of playoffs, facing off against the Spring Woods Tigers.