With three games remaining in the regular season, the boys’ soccer team looked to finish strong before the postseason. Today, Oct. 11, the Bruins faced the Jefferson City High School Jays (JCHS) in the team’s final district game.
A competitive match featuring strong defensive play, the Bruins and the Jays were scoreless after the end of regulation. Two overtime periods could not decide the winner; as a result, the district rivals entered penalty kicks to decide the match. Ultimately, JCHS defeated the Bruins, 3-2 in penalties.
Senior goalkeeper Wilson Fitzgerald, who scored the first penalty for RBHS, thought the team played well but failed to take advantage of scoring chances.
“Our defense played pretty well throughout the game,” Fitzgerald said. “We just couldn’t seem to capitalize on our opportunities. They were there we just didn’t find the back of the net.”
Senior Drew Stanowski, midfielder and team captain, explained the team maintained possession of the ball successfully throughout the game, which was accompanied by stellar defense. The Bruins, however, were simply not able to score.
As a result of the loss, RBHS will enter the district tournament as the second seed; a district junior midfielder Johnny Klein knows will be competitive.
“It’s a really solid district and were expecting to play tough but very winnable games,” Klein said. “We have to bounce back and get two wins this weekend heading into districts.”
The final two games of the year for the Bruins are against Helias Catholic and Tolton Catholic Saturday, Oct. 15 at RBHS.
As the team prepares to tune up for the postseason, Stanowski believes the loss to JCHS can help the team moving forward.
“We have to get over this game but not forget it,” Stanowski said. “In the scheme of things, it was just a regular season game and we lost in PK’s. if we play [JCHS] in the finals for districts, though, we need to use it as motivation and learn from the things we didn’t do well in the first to try and get a different result.”