On the road - Gungas vs Mustangs
Milton, MA - On a beautiful day, the Big Blue traveled to Milton Academy to take on a very organized and talented Mustang squad. As expected, the home side came out ready to play, and with good movement on and off the ball, the home side had possession of the ball and created good chances to get on the board early on; however, the Big Blue was up for the challenge and handled the pressure well. In the 18th minute of play, the home side would make us pay and go up on the score after a chain of poor decisions on our half of the field. Milton's # 11 would receive a through ball, after the errors, and head straight to goal and hit a rocket of a shot that our GK, Jack Alexander '25, could do nothing about. Paul Gichana '25 and Giovanni Pagliuca '23 were the big heroes of the day, as the high pressure of the two players would lead to a costly turnover for the Mustangs. Gichana's pressure from the outside made the outside back cough up the ball to a closely pressuring Gio Pagliuca, who collected the ball, drove into the box, passed two players, and finished a beautiful left-footed blast into the roof of the net.
Overall, Big Blue went up against a formidable opponent and walked away feeling like we could have done some things better on both sides of the ball. The young squad will continue to improve as we gain more trust and know each other.
The Big Blue continues its road tour at Loomis Chaffee Friday at 6:00 PM. We hope to see you there.