The South Windsor Boys Varsity Soccer Team traveled to East Hartford High School on Tuesday, September 30th to face off against the Hornets. South’s previous game against Tolland ended with a heartbreaking defeat. A win was needed against East Hartford to bring back momentum and speed to the team’s game.
This was a very anticipated game, two rivals, two skilled opponents. Each team got multiple opportunities on each net, but South Windsor mostly controlled the pace through the early point of the game.
The silence was first broken by a shot from Senior Captain, Jaxson Hills. A shot from him far out was rebounded by senior Christopher Maio. Maio calmly took the ball, slotting it into the back of the net, to make the game 1-0 South.
“It was very exciting to make such a big impact in such a big game with a team who are historically rivals and really set up our team for the win,” Maio said. “I hope we can build on our success.”
East Hartford managed to equalize soon after. A debatable no call by the referee led to an East Hartford breakaway and eventually a tying goal. South Windsor had other plans though and were not going to let this slight inconvenience ruin this game. They knew that they could take this game.
As Blake Lyons took his corner, his precise eagle eye envisioned senior and captain, Hayden Xhokaxhiu. Lyons graciously lobbed the ball to Xhokaxhui, who gave the keeper no chance and finished with a powerful header to give
South took back the lead.
South Windsor was not stopping anytime soon. Junior Blake Lyons wasn’t just happy with an assist, but decided to fill his stat sheet even more. Senior, Naol Tirfessa initially passed it to Lyons to start. Lyons took on too many people to count in this play: he embarrassed each defender one by one. The ball looked like it was glued to his foot, the keeper in pure shock. Lyons smooth as butter, put it into the goal. The score now read 3-1.
The second half saw less action than the first, but a missed penalty kick from the Hornets brought the ball back to the other side of the field. A ball played to Maio chained the next goal. He passed it to Xhokaxhiu, who bullied the East defense. He found the back of the net for the second time and put the game to rest.
“It was very motivating after the loss to Tolland; we really needed that boost of confidence,” senior, Junior Heredia said. “I think we could really build off the win for future games.”
The Bobcats ended the game with the victory, 4-1, with Enfield following soon after. The win puts the Bobcats back on the right track before the battle against the Eagles.
