The same rain that cancelled the JV boys game continued to drench the field as the McLean boys varsity soccer team readied themselves to take on the Centreville Wildcats. As the defending regional champion, the Highlanders had a less than ideal start to the season, dropping their first game to Westfield 3-2. They looked to take care of business in their home opener.
“We’re anticipating a good and intense game,” assistant coach Alex MacNabb said. “We’re coming off of a tough loss, and it is important for us to respond well.”
McLean started off the game in the worst way possible: just three minutes in Centreville whipped a cross in that was completely mishandled by the McLean back line, setting the score at 1-0 to Centreville.
Offense came sparingly in the following 30 minutes, and neither team could advance the ball too far without it being taken off them. This continued until the last four minutes in the half when senior defender Will Saxon drove the ball down the right wing and squared it back to the middle where junior midfielder Luke Hamel was waiting to slot it in the bottom left corner to tie the game 1-1. The goal seemed to ignite McLean’s offense as they had a few more solid chances that nearly gave them the lead. However, they failed to take advantage of these opportunities, and the first half ended 1-1.
The Highlanders started the second half slow, allowing Centreville a few chances to take the lead, but neither team could get on the board. McLean started building an attack 25 minutes in that was finished off by senior forward Joe Margita, scoring off a deflection to take the lead 2-1.
This lead was short lived as miscommunication between senior goalkeeper Sebastian Carmenates, and the back line resulted in a header off a set piece to level the game at 2-2. McLean’s defense continued to struggle after this as careless fouls gave way to numerous set pieces for the wildcats. It was clear that Martinez and the defenders were struggling to remain on the same page.
Despite these setbacks, McLean was still able to build one more attack, with nine minutes left, senior forward Arman Badipour streaked down the right wing and was able to win a penalty for McLean. Senior Ada Karatepe stepped up calmly to the penalty spot and scored the goal to put McLean ahead in the dying embers of the game. The game ended 3-2 in an impressive showing for the Highlanders.
“I was really happy with the outcome of the game,” head coach Leeland Jameson said. “We finished the job, which is what we needed to prove we could do.”
Despite the strong performance, there was a consensus among the players and coaches that they could not be simply satisfied with this win.
“The team played well today, but there is still room for improvement,” Jameson said. “We need to defend set pieces with more conviction.”
McLean looks ahead to their next match against Mount Vernon, where they hope to build on the momentum from this match.
“Our mentality is that we need to keep practicing hard every day,” junior midfielder Carter Courey said. “We need to connect with one another on a deeper level so that we can maximize team chemistry.”
