Each year, thousands of students, parents and high school soccer fans pack the stands to watch the Saints’ boys soccer team take on the St. James Thunder. The event comes with all sorts of pomp and circumstance and serves as the Friday night lights kickoff to each school year.
The Saints can always expect an aggressive, high energy first ten minutes from the Thunder, and that’s exactly how they began the match. Such physicality led to a Saints penalty kick within the first five minutes of the game which was not converted. It didn’t take long for the Saints to bounce back as Junior Liam Ryan slotted home a ball from Senior Anthony Consuegra in the eleventh minute of the game. The goal sent the electric Saints student section into a state of euphoria. Before the end of the half, captain Barrett Kitts sent a long distance laser past the Thunder goalkeeper. This goal capped off a very productive half from the Saints.
Going into the second half, the team’s mentality was to keep their foot on the gas. The Saints quickly went up by another goal as the rebound from Kitts’ shot was finished by captain Ethan Young. The goal, accompanied by an emphatic celebratory knee slide from Young, once again sent the Saints fans into a state of bliss. The celebrations were cut short as Saints’ goalkeeper Landon Rutter was sent off with a red card in a controversial call after a collision with a Thunder forward. Thankfully, Saints starting goalkeeper Andrew Seger was ready to jump back into the game from the bench.
As the game came to a close with a score of 3-0, both teams carried on the tradition of a conjoined team prayer together. After the prayer, the Clevinger-Cobb Cup was presented to the Saints. This trophy is given to the winner of the game each year and is named in honor of two former STA soccer players who have passed away. After ceremonial pictures and a short team talk, the players raised the trophy in front of the STA student section, elated to celebrate the victory with their classmates.