On September 12th, The GDS men’s varsity soccer team defeated School Without Walls (SWW) in the Hoppers’ third game of the season. The Hoppers put on a dominant performance, winning 4–0 on their home turf.
School Without Walls began with the ball, and as soon as the game kicked off, they were immediately met with pressure from the GDS attackers. GDS forwards and midfielders made a constant effort to force the SWW defenders to make quick decisions, which led to tackles and intercepted passes. GDS kept possession for the majority of the first 15 minutes of the game thanks to their ability to press the ball.
When GDS was on the attack, they had success playing through the middle until they could find passes to their wingers. Senior winger Samson Lowenstein stood out in that respect. Whether it was receiving passes through the air, kicking through-balls that rolled past the defense, or dribbling past defenders using his skill and speed, he created scoring chances. Throughout the first half, he sent crosses from the left side, but GDS couldn’t cash them in. His shots were either deflected or saved by SWW’s goalkeeper.
With 24 minutes left in the first half, senior Zach Henderson scored thanks to a strong cross from Lowenstein. GDS went into halftime leading 1–0.
The message from coaches heading into the second half was clear: send long passes from side to side to create opportunities for the wingers.
In a post-game interview with the Bit, head coach Quinn Killy said that at halftime he told his players to “exploit the wings, get [junior] TJ [Jones] and Samson [Lowenstein] the ball wide, don’t be afraid to shoot, follow up shots for rebounds.”
When the second half began, the pressure continued to lead to success for the Hoppers. The defensive line held their own throughout the game. SWW had an opportunity to score when its defender cleared the ball, leaving senior Zach Lundman one-on-one with a SWW attacker. He cleared the ball out of bounds and stopped a potential goal-scoring opportunity.
“They communicated well and they held structure,” junior Mikhail Westelius said of GDS’ defensive players. “Because we play with three in the back line, talking and communicating is key…other teams will try to stretch the field and exploit the wide areas, so this makes it very essential to not lose our shape and to not overcommit when the opponent has the ball.” The defense has been a main factor of their success early in the season, leading the team to an undefeated start.
Senior goalkeeper Tigin Unsal played some risky passes to defenders, but they managed to hold the ball. For the most part, Unsal didn’t need to make many saves, but he did come up to receive pass attempts and block crosses from the opposing team.
Later in the second half, two GDS players suffered injuries. Junior TJ Jones sustained an injury to his ankle and senior Oliver Hsu caught a cramp. Neither returned for the remainder of the match.
“I have no idea what happened to my ankle, but I am planning to be back on Monday practicing…to play in the game on Tuesday,” Jones said.
Although GDS lost two key players early in the second half, their offense was not done scoring. Lowenstein kept persisting on the left side, sending a shot that bounced off the goalkeeper’s chest and right to Henderson for his second goal of the afternoon. With 17 minutes left in the second half, junior Trey Tam sent in a cross directly to the head of Henderson, scoring his third goal and achieving a hat trick.
With the score 3–0, Killy began to sub out the starters and allow substitutes to play. Senior Greg Schafer took advantage of the opportunity, scoring a shot from outside the box with three minutes left in the game. The Hoppers ended the game with 12 shots on goal.
“One thing we’re doing this year is scoring goals. Last year we struggled to score goals. This year we’re putting balls in the back of the net,” Killy said. “We still have missed some chances that we should’ve finished on.”
Killy said the energy around the team is positive, but they still have a long road ahead.
“We have four league games over the next two weeks. Have this conversation with me two weeks from now and we’ll see,” he said when asked about the team’s outlook for the rest of the season.
GDS will play at Maret on Sept. 17 at 4:15 pm.