In two home games against Winona, MSMS soccer kicked off its first district matches on Dec. 5 with varied outcomes: Frazer won 9-1 by mercy rule, and Goen lost 3-2.
Senior co-captain and striker Sebastian Harvey scored Frazer’s nine goals with assists from juniors Daniel Van, Ngoh Mobit and Ben Breeden and seniors Ethan Liao and Gavin Weinstein. Senior striker Jordan Wright scored the two goals of the Goen game.
Goen encountered multiple setbacks due to the absence of several team members, some of whom were still recovering from past game injuries. One of Goen’s only two goalies left the team after sustaining a knee injury, so junior Domini Jha left her midfield position to take on a new defensive role.
“Being the goalie was a brand-new experience for me,” Jha said. “I only found out [the day before] I’d be playing the position. Given the circumstances, I did the best I could.”
Senior co-captain and midfielder Laykin Dixon said despite Goen’s loss, the game proved insightful as the team managed to perform sufficiently with missing players.
“I felt good about [the match] because it was our first district game, and none of the others were as important,” Dixon said. “This game, we played well, and I [think] we would have won if everyone had been there.”
Throughout the match, Frazer confronted a few obstacles as Winona attempted to pierce through its defense in hopes of mounting a comeback. However, Frazer’s synergy shined as Winona failed to secure its back line, allowing Harvey to push back its defense and score three hat tricks alongside his teammates.
“Despite conceding a poor goal from a long throw early on, the team rallied and didn’t give Winona another shot,” Harvey said. “I was especially impressed by Ethan [Liao] and Atticus [Ross], our [senior] central midfielders. They did a great job protecting the back line and slipping passes in between the lines.”
After such a triumphant first district match, Harvey said he anticipates a successful remainder of Frazer’s season.
“The goal of this season is to finish first in the district and make it as far as possible in the playoffs,” he said. “I believe we have the quality to make a deep run, and our game against Winona was proof of that.”
Today, Frazer and Goen both beat Philadelphia in their second district match of the season. The Vision will provide continuing coverage of MSMS soccer this week.
