East Side Boys Varsity Soccer 2024 Season

By Ciaran Jacobs

Boys varsity soccer team after a big win.

The fall, the East Side Varsity soccer team underwent immense changes after ten seniors, making a substantial dent in the team's performance and numbers. 

Fortunately, tryouts allowed many new players to join across every grade. With a larger team after tryouts training for pre-season went amazing, with the team winning by large margins in their two warm up matches. 

For example, in their game against Seward Park Campus, the Tigers won by five goals in a 7-2 game, and again in their 8-1 match against Bard. With a few weeks till the season began, Head Coach Louis Azar had the team practicing for many days getting ready for the season.

Off to a strong start of the season, the Tigers played their first match on September 11th against Richard Green High School of Teaching where they won with a superior lineup going up 3-0 in the first fifteen minutes and ending the match 13-0. These skilful goals were scored by Senior captain Lucien Naughton who scored five, junior  left wing Diego Rosas who got three, sophomore Center attacking Midfielder Harrison Crowley who finished two, and freshman Lincoln Sammarco who scored one

Continuing their streak, the Tigers landed another win 3-1 against the School of the Future. One of these spectacular goals was made by Centerback Elias Gordon who scored off of a free kick from just past halfway. 

However, things soon took a turn as the team went on to lose 3-1 in a violent game to I.C.E with two goals conceded in the dying minutes of the game. Sparks flew and a fight began due to outrage about senior substitute right wing Elijah Mena being shown a red card and a 2 game ban. Losing 3-0 to Bard shortly after in a match where Striker, and captain, Lucien Naughton was missing. The team felt down but was ready to come back going into their next game.

Then with some tactical changes to the formation which were meant to make the team more stable and a new goalkeeper, the East Side boys team went into their 5th game of the season against NEST+M. This resulted in a 2-1 victory for east side which made them 3 and 2 going into the second half of the season.

Then, on a rainy Saturday at the Newtown High School Field the boys valiantly faced off against Richard Green High School for the second time this season. Although playing on rough terrain with rainy conditions, the boys were able to score a striking 11 goals with none conceded with their new goalkeeper, junior Jack Rosado.

The Tigers then proudly made it into the playoffs with their next win when they beat SOF 3-0. This was a big moment due to their two hard losses, making playoffs a goal the team wasn’t confident they could achieve. They went on to play I.C.E for the second time in the regular season where they lost 2-1 with a last minute goal scored from the opposing team. This game was quickly followed up by a tie against Bard High School Early college in which a goal was snatched from East Sid by a missed call made by the referee. Then to finish the season they lost 3-1 to NEST+M with a goal from Rory Grant who saved the team from being swept.

In the playoff game, the boys struggled as they faced a physically superior team. However with a foul drawn in the last minute they got a free kick that was sent in by Asher Harwood and knocked over to Lucien Naughton who kicked it into the back of the net. While celebrating the goal it was deemed “over celebration” by the referee and was shown a second yellow resulting in a game suspension.

This could not have come at a worse time due to the boys having a game against division rivals I.C.E who the team had lost both their games to. Diego Rosas and Lucien Naughton were both out on injury and suspension. This game was neck and neck with dodgy calls from the referees. Elias Gordon scored two free kicks to tie the game up twice. It ended with a last minute goal that broke the formation. They converted to a high press but ICE scored another goal giving the boys a heartbreaking 4-2 loss knocking them out of playoffs. 

Rory Grant described his experience in the final game saying that he “went into the game in the position he was needed for.” 

Captain Asher Harwood said, “There was a lack of effort and that everyone got in their own head while not treating it like a playoff game.” This position was one that was agreed with by many on the team. It was thought that even while playing a good game, the fact that we had lost to them before made it harder to play a good game.

After the game with speeches from their captains and coaches, the team left with their heads held high ready for whatever the future held.