Camden Willems can do it all
Andover, MA: It was a KitKat week for the home team as they took home two sweet victories. On a cloudy yet perfect day for soccer at Smoyer Field, BVS hosted the always-tough Boars of Choate to wrap up a busy week. Last year, the Boars defended well and made the most of their chances, resulting in a win. The BIG BLUE learned from that contest and aimed for a better result this time at home. Captain Garrett Holman ’24 led the team defensively, bringing his back line together and holding Choate to only two dangerous attempts on goal. Thanks to Camden Willems ‘24 and the supporting back four, BIG BLUE earned a shutout on the day.
Senior captain Alex Torrens ’24 played his best soccer on Smoyer Field, moving up the pitch and managing the 1-1 coverage he had on him all day.
Liam Rorke ‘24 had a sensational game on the offense, creating several goal opportunities against the visitors. On one of those occasions, Liam calmly turned instead of driving and played a beautiful through-ball that left Paul Gichana ‘25 to outrun his defender and beat the keeper to make it one nil.
Senior captains Ellis Denby ‘24 and Zane Matraji ‘24 were a nightmare for the visitors. Matraji did an excellent job finding pockets of space to turn and play, creating numerous goal opportunities. The day offensively belonged to Ellis Denby, who was spectacular on both ends of the field. His first contest goal was a rocket from outside the 18-yard box that the keeper could not react fast enough to stop. The third goal from Denby was a complete team effort. BIG BLUE eventually put together a ten-pass sequence to find a Denby outside for a one-on-one. Finding himself isolated with a 1v1, Ellis took his chance, drove into the box, beat his defender, and launched an unstoppable low shot to the far post, making the final score 3-nil.
As the season progresses, all team members are getting increasingly comfortable in their roles daily, and players like Spencer Salhanick ’24, Ryan Lam ‘24, Alvin Liu ’24, Peter Elliot ‘24, Elijah Robinson ‘25, Rafiq Kasumov ’25, Marc Nelson ‘25, Louis-Thomas Vincent ‘25, Everett Woo ‘25, Alex Lee ‘25, Keegan Markgraf ’25 and Jonathan Bu ‘26 have all picked up their understanding of the team's style of play and their contribution only makes us stronger.
This week, many team members were called on to play a different role, and Camden Willems answered the call beautifully as he had to fill in the goal, having had no experience before. This week, with the help of Camden, went from what looked like a nightmare to an absolute dream of a week, and because of team members like Camden, we are who we are; that is, a BIG and SUPPORTIVE FAMILY.
Our next match is on Smoyer Field at 3:30 p.m. We look forward to seeing you there.