Jesuit final minute goal ties JV game

 

By Krystal Lau,

HUB staff writer–

The crowd groans as a Jesuit player scores a goal in the last two minutes of the JV game in an unexpected tie of 2-2 over DHS’s rival school Jesuit on October 6.

“It wasn’t anyone’s fault, it was just good soccer players making good soccer plays,” coach Jason Dal Porto said, on the last minute goal DHS allowed in, finalizing the score in a tie.

Though Jesuit made the first goal, DHS rebounded straight away, and as they dribbled down the field directly after the kick off, Raunak Manandhar scored DHS’s first goal of the game, tying it up almost immediately.

Once, the score favored DHS with 2-1, they put up an extremely strong defensive line, and didn’t even bother trying to score.

“It was a good strategy,” Jesuit player Mitchell Johnston said, “They had a bunch of players on defense. They’re one of our best competition.”

Despite the fact that the game was a non-league game, the rivalry between the two schools brought out an abnormally large crowd.

“It’s not much more than a glorified scrimmage,” said athletic director Dennis Foster, “It’s mainly about bragging rights.”

Nonetheless, the game still held much importance to many of the players, fans, and parents sitting in the stadium.

“The energy here is electric, the rivalry between the two schools brings out the best when they play,” campus security Demond Huff said, “It’s a big game because of the history and tradition. What it means to both schools is more than that.”

Jesuit is ranked nationally this year, but the DHS soccer team isn’t doing so badly themselves, as they are currently in first place in the league. However, the last minute swap in coaches a week before tryouts may have caused some confusion. Regardless, team bonding remains strong, and they share the credit with everyone.

“I think they played extraordinary, legendary. The chemistry between players, the collective effort to be great, the family and school support. Everyone in this community had us doing well out there. This game meant everything,” Dal Porto said.

The DHS soccer team seems satisfied with the end result.

“We played amazing, everyone was fighting as hard as they could,” captain Joe Rainer said, “There was just that cheap goal at the end, but it happened, and there’s no going back.”