Sunny Yu ’28 fights for the ball in the back-and-forth match against Nobles.
9/4 – Andover: 4; Pingree: 1
9/6 – Andover: 1; BB&N: 3
9/10 – Andover: 1; Noble and Greenough: 3
With the team graduating fourteen seniors, Boys Soccer is composed of an almost entirely new roster this year. Its season began with a strong 4-1 win against Pingree, but suffered defeats to Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (BB&N) and Noble and Greenough (Nobles). With the addition of numerous new players, the team aims to foster a sense of community and build chemistry as the season progresses.
Despite having only a few practices before its first game, Boys Soccer pulled off a convincing victory against Pingree. Adam Sealfon ’29 praised the team’s ability to work together and synergize in the second half.
“It was the first game that we played together as a team, so there was still some stuff to figure out formation-wise, as well as together as a team. But we got those things settled in the second half, and we ended up winning 4-1, which was a great first result for the team,” said Sealfon.
For the second game of the season against BB&N, Sealfon explained that the game was cut short due to poor weather. While the team only managed to score one goal to BB&N’s three in the first half, Sealfon maintained a positive mindset as he looked towards the future.
“The game was restricted to a half because it got rained out for the second half, and after that, we couldn’t get things situated anymore, so we ended up losing from that half, 3-1. But, there are more games to come, and hopefully, we can bounce back from the early loss to start the season,” said Sealfon.
Unfortunately, the team encountered back-to-back losses, its second coming from a strong Nobles team. According to Co-Captain Kai Myles ’27, although the first half was a back-and-forth battle, he praised his team for how they met the challenge.
“We gave the energy that they were pushing us back with. We responded after the first goal properly. We responded very well, in my opinion. We got a little tired and gassed towards the end. We didn’t control the tempo of the game properly, but it was a good showing from the team in the first half. It shows that we are able to actually keep up with some of these teams,” said Myles.
A key moment in the game came from an equalizer goal by Wyatt Orraca-Cecil ’28. Oracca-Cecil described the goal and how it increased the momentum afterwards.
“[That goal] switched the momentum in the game. We went down 1-0 pretty early, and when we go down early, we tend to put our heads down. [Instead], we went back harder, and it led us to having a more successful first half, where we could have gone up more. That goal was a turning point because it gave us a lot of hope,” said Orraca-Cecil.
Aviad Awa ’28 expressed the promise of the new roster and the supportive team environment, which continues to evolve this season.
“During the games, we all show out and show support for each other. If someone makes a good tackle, the other team will definitely hear about it from us. So, I’d say, all in all, everyone’s always on their feet,” said Aviad Awa ’28.
Boys Soccer hopes to strike back away against Belmont Hill on Saturday.
