The excitement of JV Red’s first competition of the season was seen on the boys’ faces when they arrived for 12:30 PM game, or maybe it was the heat and humidity hitting them in the face as they walked toward the field – it was hard to tell. I have not known many of these boys for long, but in the short time since tryouts I have observed strong attitudes with the willingness to work hard to improve themselves and sharpen each other. It was great to see nothing less this weekend.
Our first game against Ryle challenged us as many of the boys were learning for the first time the position(s) I placed them in. Each one of them was applying many things at once while playing a new position with new teammates in the midst of a muggy match, but they should be very proud of their effort. There were some promising moments of passing and movement off the ball in our offensive end of the field led by Arrion Allen (#8), Evan Adkins (#16) and Will Griffith (#13). A great passing sequence mid-way through the first half resulted in an impressive header and finish by Brayan Tubella (#9).
Later that evening, our 5:00 PM match was against Bullitt East. Although a difficult result against a difficult opponent, I believe this game will be a game many of the boys will look back on at the end of the season (in a good way). Trey Vice had a great effort in the goal, although the attacks against him did not stop. Our heads never went down. The second half was much more competitive as we produced a few goal scoring opportunities. Gabe Cassone (#17) and Bryan Tubella (#9) led the team with their tenacity, especially in the second half. We possessed the ball at least twice as much in the second half as we did in the first. Enduring a game like this with the character we did makes me very excited about how much these boys will improve the rest of the season.
Our final match and best performance of the weekend involved a weather delay and cancellation soon into the second half, but there were many good things to take away from the time we had. It was good to have Ian Fultz (#29) in goal for us, allowing Trey Vice to spend some time in the field. Ian played very confidently, saving a couple goals, while Trey gave us some physicality and a strong effort in the back.
Glasgow was able to sneak a couple in on us the first part of the second half, but we responded brilliantly. Soon after the second goal we began to pass, communicate and move off the ball. Defensively, Kyle Grizz (#11), Berkley Prather (#18), Dylan King (#5) and Caydon Voss (#6) began to work beautifully together, building our attack from the back. Jonathan Dean (#22), Banks Cornett (#23) and Wolfgang Rach (#7) led the team with their aggressiveness, stepping in front of Glasgow’s attempts in the middle of the field. Lan Vu (#14) and Emmany Bandamuna (#12) kept the ball for us in our offensive third of the field, allowing for more opportunities. Soonafter Glasgow’s second goal, Emmany had an effortless finish to give us our first goal of the game. Late into the first half, Brayan Tubella (#9) finished his second header goal of the weekend to the tie the game right before half, supported by a great effort from Julian Palmisano (#3), Will Griffith (#13) and Evan Adkins (#16).
The storm interrupted the game right when our momentum was building soon into the second half. The game ended with Will Rister (#15) streaking down the left sideline ready to score or assist on a goal. Our final game against Glasgow was our best performance of the weekend, and a fantastic note to finish on as we look forward to the rest of our preseason together!
