On Friday, on a cold and rainy afternoon, former and current GDS students faced off on the high school field for almost two hours at the annual alumni soccer game. They played a series of three soccer matches between a pinny and a non-pinny team.
By the end of the three games, several players had gotten injured from the cold. One player walked off the field during the first game because he pulled a muscle in his leg.
The first game started off with an early header goal by senior Samson Lowenstein on the non-pinny team. Tam Amr ‘88, who was playing in goal at the time, said Lowenstein’s goal was the highlight of the first game.
After Lowenstein’s goal, the pinny team quickly returned with a goal of their own and was able to come back with two more to win the first game.
Special gifts officer and former athletic director David Gillespie said that the second game was strong for the non–pinny team. “We beat them pretty good,” Gillespie, who played goalie for most of the game, said.
The alumni soccer game is usually organized by Assistant Principal for School Life and men’s varsity soccer coach Quinn Killy, but due to family obligations during the holiday, he was unable to attend this game. Killy asked Gillespie to organize the game this year.
Amr was injured in the middle of the second game and had to leave early. By the end of it, several other players were injured due to the cold weather—many of them pulled muscles and got cramps.
In the last couple minutes, former GDS men’s varsity soccer player Kofi Pobee ’23 of the non-pinny team then scored “the goal of the year,” according to Lowenstein—a scissor kick to tie the score, assisted by Lowenstein. The non-pinny team celebrated and ran around the field cheering.
The third game was expected to end at 2:35 p.m., but when the time came and both teams were still tied, they decided to continue playing until one of the teams scored. After 20 minutes, the pinny team ultimately scored a goal to take the last game.
Danielle Soto ‘19 said that it was nostalgic to be back on the high school field and that she had a lot of memories there. She added that it was fun to be playing soccer again after she played varsity soccer at Wesleyan University. “It’s been a while, but it’s really fun,” she said.
Zach Stern ’18 said the alumni game was the first time that he had played soccer in nine months after undergoing surgery on his leg. “It felt good to be out there and just having fun,” he said. “This is my fourth year in a row of coming to the Thanksgiving game, and every year it’s super fun to reconnect with friends and see the campus again.”