We took the short drive to NMH on a warm afternooon. The boys came out with solid keepaway, but NMH scored first on a deft drag play from the left wing, then a through ball which looked offside, but was not. We worked hard and generated good pressure before NMH scored again on a free kick which hit the crossbar and deflected off keeper Gianluca Simonelli’s hand and to a charging attacker. The score was 0-2 at the half. Our boys kept the fires alive despite the deficit with solid midfield play from Jack Zhunio, Andrew Lewis, Jack Borg, Jack Webb, and Justin Scalzo. Our backline anchored by seniors Finn Knight, James Kurto, and Kiefer Ebling played very well. Midway through the second half, NMH took a 3-0 lead on a cross that looked to be our keeper’s ball by was toed in by a crashing winger. Much to the coaches’ delight, our boys kept coming. We broke through several times by pressing their defenders as they tried to possess the ball. Victor Kibuuka, Isaac Shebola, and Blaze Etienne-Cummings sparked the bench with their physical pursuit of the ball. Finally, after a strong dispossession, sophomore Jack Borg sliced through the NMH defense at full speed attempted a cheeky chip shot which the goalie barely deflected, but then a charging Tai Feng finished the ball before NMH’s keeper could corral the ball. NMH added a late goal on a corner kick and the game ended 4-1. We gave it our all today and learned that we have some fixes to make at the top of our box and finishing shots on net. Coaches were very proud that the effort and sportsmanship were the very high level, regardless of the score, and that we found the back of the net against a very good team.