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Surrounded by Viper players, Samuel Givens ‘27 tries to escape while maintaining Warrior possession. He helped significantly in moving the ball forward throughout the game.
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Confronting the Viper goalie, Antoni Banka ‘27 scores a goal for the Warriors. This goal was scored just five minutes right after the Vipers scored a goal.
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Moving the ball back, Finley Brenneman ‘28 keeps the ball under Warrior control. He helped in putting the Viper defenders under pressure.
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Looking for an opportunity, Riley Ang ‘27 moves the ball away from Viper players. This was right after the Vipers scored a goal, but this play helped the Warriors score their goal.
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Dribbling the ball, Dhruv Pandare ‘27 gets the ball ready for another Warrior attack. Pandare and other defenders were able to keep the Vipers from scoring another goal after the Viper’s first goal.
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Running after the ball, Finely Brenneman ‘28 fights for the ball. Adding pressure like this prevented the Vipers from scoring any further goals.
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Getting ready to pass, Colin Lanier ‘27 stops pushing forward noticing Viper players ahead. The Warriors made sure to play carefully to limit opportunities for the Vipers.
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Sprinting forward, Antoni Banka ‘27 moves the ball away from the Warrior goal. Banka scored the goal for the Warriors.
The JV orange boys’ soccer team played their district game against the Vandegrift Vipers on Tuesday, Mar. 11 at the Warrior Bowl. This game determined whether the Warriors would make it out of districts. After excellent play from both sides, the Warriors and Vipers tied with a score of 1-1.
“[The game plan coming in was] just to win districts,” Abhinay Laggeri ‘28 said. “We had tactics, and other plans that would actually help us.”
At the beginning, possession was fairly even with the ball constantly switching between both teams. Every time a team launched an attack, it was intercepted by the opposing team keeping the game at a standstill.
However, after 15 minutes, a Viper player broke through the Warrior defense and scored the first goal of the game, making the score 1-0. Although the Vipers scored the first goal, the Warriors made sure to keep up an aggressive play, staying determined to advance their score.
“[The toughest part of the game was] that there were a lot of big guys. It was hard to get around them,” Padric Barrow ‘28 said. “They were probably overall stronger than us”
As the ball started back at the middle, the Warriors started off with a more vigorous play moving the ball into Viper territory rapidly. The Vipers defense stayed man on, attempting to prevent the Warriors’ opportunity of scoring.
The Warriors approached the ball right in front of the Viper goal surrounded by a sea of Vandegrift defenders As this battle for the ball went on, Antoni Banka ‘27 pushed the ball into the Viper goal tying the score 1-1. This goal was scored just 5 minutes after the Viper’s goal.
“I was just focusing on getting good contact since [the ball] was right in front of the goal,” Banka said. “I had a feeling [the ball went in, but] it was hard to tell because there was a lot of people in front of me.”
During the second half, the Warriors maintained possession for most of the remainder of the game, pushing the Vipers to play defensively for the majority. As the Warriors continued trying to break apart the Vandegrift denfense, the Vipers were able to play with a steady front, preventing the Warriors from gaining any further scoring opportunities.
The Vipers intercepted the ball a few times but were unsuccessful in coming up with a goal from these breaks in the Warriors possession. As the time started running out, the Warriors and Vipers stood still tied. With no final efforts to break this tie, the game ended 1-1.
“It was a great battle. Both teams were going at it,” Barrow said. “We played the better game, but the outcome just wasn’t ours.”
The Warriors concluded their season strong showing great amounts of determination and control during their games.
