On Friday night, the Academy boys varsity soccer team played their first district game under the lights against Highland.

The Academy team is currently ranked 6^th in 4A while Highland is ranked 8^th. Winning district games will be critical as the team looks to improve their ranking as the state tournament looms.

Not only was this an important game, the team faced challenges in a Highland team with many individually skilled players and playing on turf for the first time in almost a month. Too, they started the game staring into the sun as it set on the horizon. Coach Kolek decided to change the formation, adding a second forward to try to solve the lack of scoring punch the team has displayed all year.

The new formation outweighed the challenges as Lucas Jepsen ’19 and Gabe Saiz ’20 displayed almost a sixth sense for where each other was. Frequently connecting and playing in wingers Kenny Levandoski ’19 and Trevor Dean ’20. With several early shots going over and around the goal, the Academy liked their newly aggressive formation. Ten minutes in, Lucas was targeted by a long clearance. He flicked the ball with one touch over the defense. As two defenders tried to shield the ball back to the keeper, Gabe faked right, ran around left and powered a first time shot into the back of the net. Coach Kolek remarked on the sideline, “Goal of the season so far.” Just five minutes later, the ball was deep in the Highland defensive corner. The ball was passed out to Mateo Centenera ’20 at the top of the penalty box, who laid the ball off to Kenny who rocketed a first touch into the net. The bench looked at each other and said, “Now that’s the best goal of the season.”

To their credit, Highland never put their head down.  They have many skilled players and forced the midfield and defense to bear down. Play went back and forth for the next several minutes. After a rare foul, Academy had a free kick around midfield. A now common tandem struck again for the Academy, with Jackson Taylor ’19 firing a long ball near post for his team leading fifth assist where Aaron Hill ’19 guided home his team leading seventh goal. Halftime arrived with the Academy leading 3-0 on the strength of strong finishing.

In the second half, Highland continued to play hard, eliciting strong saves from Yannick Schlenzig ’19 including coming out and challenging a high shot that was headed in, as well getting low on a driven shot. All Academy players got in on the action with Neven Zapatka ’22 earning some time with strong possession and a cheeky backheel that almost resulted in a goal for Kenny. With time running down, Kenny made another dangerous run past the Highland defense, sending a cross to the far post that Lucas directed high over the onrushing keeper and into the back of the net. Full time ended with an emphatic and well-deserved 4-0 win. Yannick earned his third shutout.

There is something special about walking off the field after playing well and winning, with the weekend ahead and the velvet darkness shrouding the wider world. Especially when it means walking into the warm congratulations of so many Academy parents and members of the Girls Varsity team who had made the trip down south of Central. 

The team is now 6-4-1 and resume their lightening shortened game against Del Norte on Monday at Richard Harper Memorial Field at 4:00.