Gunga vs. Rhinos
Andover, MA - The Big Blue played this evening at Smoyer Stadium in front of a large crowd that came to support the team but, more importantly, the fight against cancer. In the evening, BVS knew the significance in front of them. Inspired by those in attendance, The Big Blue put together a memorable performance against a talented and well-coached Taft team. The game started with both teams demonstrating good organization on both sides. Early on, the visitors began to press the home team high, which created challenges for The Big Blue. Despite the pressure, defensively, Garrett Holman '24, Oliver Buckhoff '24, Spencer Madge '25, Alex Torrens '24, and Jack Alexander '25 shut down all of the attacks the Rhinos generated. On the day, Tegan Doll '23 was superb and a difference maker as he cleaned up everything that needed to be taken care of defensively while generating great chances to move forward. The visiting Rhinos, too, defended well, and many outstanding plays were made by their back four and GK to keep the score 0-0 in the first 45 minutes of play. The Big Blue made some adjustments at the half to free up space to operate and generate scoring chances. The changes saw captain Ellis Denby '24 combine with captain Zane Matraji '24 to make it one-nil. Matraji made no mistake of sending home a cross by Denby to give the home team the lead. The second goal came a few minutes later via Giovanni Pagliuca, '23, who dribbled passed three Rhinos to take a shot, find his rebound, and drill home the second tally of the evening. Tonight, the significant contribution from the bench made an enormous difference. Time played by Ryan Lam '24 and Alex Coman '24, Elijah Robinson '25, and Marc Nelson '25 gave us the boost of energy that was needed at different times during the game. Overall, The Big Blue played a great team, and a great team performance needed to be put on display to have a positive result, and that is precisely what happened this evening. Congrats to all members of the BVS team on this great win.
Thank you to those who came to support the team and the fight against cancer. Next up, Brighton Academy on Smoyer Field on Wednesday at 4:00 PM. We hope to see you out there.