The boys varsity soccer team played their fourth game of the season at home against Harmony High School on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.. Leading up to this game, the team was 0-2-1. The boys did not know what to expect going into this game as they have never played against Harmony, who had started the season at 4-4.

The first quarter started slow with a couple shots at a goal by both teams, but at the 20 minute mark a goal by midfielder Jaret Ong put Hagerty in the lead. 

“After Jaret Ong scored the opener of the game, it felt really good because it was a goal that we worked for and got rewarded,” keeper and team captain Erwin Eberhardt said.

This goal pushed Oviedo to make several scoring attempts on Eberhardt, which he managed to stop. He punted the ball to forward Hayden Lesnewski in an attempt to score, but was not successful by the quarter mark. At the very end of the first half the energy picked up when the boys were given a corner kick. The ball was shot toward the goal, but was caught by the goalie. This led to the ball being pushed to the other end, which almost made a shot as it slid right over the top of the goal. The half ended with a score of 1-0.

The second half started quickly as Harmony scored. 

“I was honestly pretty upset…we were winning and then out of nowhere we were down by a goal, even after trying our best,” Eberhardt said.

The offense was led by midfielder Brett Beliech, who pushed forward with several attempts on the goal. He got close, but he was stopped with an offsides call. The team kept pushing to break the tie with shot after shot at the goal, but could not score. Forward Vincent Talo put the win on the line with a yellow card against him. This was quickly made up with a goal kick by Beliech, but the shot was stopped by the keeper. 

“We need to improve on [things] such as doing what you are supposed to do and putting in the effort on the moments that matter,” Eberhardt said.

The game continued and with 18 minutes left, when Harmony scored and took the lead. Harmony also began to get more aggressive and earned two yellow cards in the remaining time. The team was desperately shooting at the goal to tie the score, but nothing was made. The inability to score goals has frustrated the team this season.

“I’ve always said that in order to score you have to want to score, same with winning. We have only scored 2 goals in 4 games and we need goals to get results.”

The tension was high, which was made worse when Harmony earned a corner kick. Once again, the goal was stopped by Eberhardt, which was almost ruined when his punt was intercepted by the other team. With less than give minutes left, the boys kept attempting to tie the game and got the chance to do so with a corner kick. The kick was made, everyone rushed to the ball, and Beliech had another shot but could not convert, and the game ended 2-1.

“We thought [the Harmony game] was a game we could win, but we knew we had to lock down defensively because they had a good attack,” defender Dylan Shyy said. 

At the end of the game, coach Mike McAvoy spoke to the team to raise their spirits. 

“They shoot, we shoot. They make it, we miss. That’s my luck,” he said. “We did everything we were supposed to do, we just need more practice.”