The Carlmont Scots freshman boys soccer team defeated the Saint Ignatius Wildcats by a score of 3-1 in their second Carlmont Cup group stage match.
After a narrow 1-0 victory during last year’s inaugural Carlmont Cup, the Scots looked to further assert their dominance over the Wildcats with back-to-back victories. Additionally, after defeating the Hillsdale Knights 4-1 in their first match of the Carlmont Cup group stage, another victory was needed for the Scots to win their group and progress to the next round of the tournament.
The game, however, got off to a rocky start for the Scots, with a scuffle in the Scots’ own 6-yard box resulting in an easy tap-in for the Wildcats. Down 1-0 early, the Scots traded drives with the Wildcats, both sides narrowly missing shots on goal.
With 17 minutes left in the first half, Scots center-defensive midfielder Akin Narisaranukal dribbled past a defender and took a shot from outside the 18-yard box. The ball flew through the air, narrowly missing the crossbar and hitting the back of the net. Narisaranukal’s goal leveled the game to a score of 1-1 going into halftime.
“When Narisaranukal took the shot and it snuck right underneath the crossbar, it brought us back into momentum after being down 1-0,” said Carlmont head coach Hugh Plitt.
From the beginning of the second half, the Scots dominated possession. Seven minutes into the half, a skirmish next to the Wildcats’ goal resulted in a tap-in goal for Scots winger Porter Harris. But after the Scots took a 2-1 lead, the atmosphere at Bruce Usher Stadium became tense.
With just 15 minutes to go in the second half, Carlmont’s offense drove into the Wildcats’ 18-yard box. Suddenly, shouting and yelling erupted from the stands as the Scots’ Gavin Paiko received a blow to the mouth from a Wildcat player. As Paiko was applauded off the field, Scots center-defensive midfielder Cooper Burton prepared to take the penalty that had been awarded as a result of the foul.
“Everyone was saying, ‘Don’t let them get in your head,’ so I just zoned everything out and sent it as hard as I could into the top right corner,” Burton said.
After Burton’s goal, the aggression of both sides began to boil over. As Carlmont’s Toby Slater slide-tackled a Wildcat player to earn the first yellow card of the game, the stadium erupted again. On the field, players began to yell at each other, and a small physical altercation did occur between multiple players on each team.
The game ended with a score of 3-1 in the Scots’ favor, with the Scots feeling pleased with their strengths as a team.
“Our biggest strength today was making them play our game,” said captain Braylen Jackson.
“We did a great job of distributing across the pitch, getting into the box, and getting numbers,” Narisaranukal said.
The Scots will face the Saint Ignatius Wildcats again in a quarter-final matchup on Friday, Dec. 13. The Scots envision the next game as a step toward achieving their overall goals.
“For the tournament we want to keep progressing along and potentially play in the Carlmont Cup final, as we finished third last year. Our goals for the rest of the season are to continue to develop the team and make progress so that we can continue to move players up to the JV team,” Plitt said.
