Boys soccer makes dramatic comeback to tie Sacred Heart

Darshan+Chahal+%2812%29+dribbles+downfield+during+the+Eagles+3-3+tie+against+undefeated+Sacred+Heart+last+Wednesday.+The+boys+are+currently+4-1-1+in+league.

Alysa Suleiman

Darshan Chahal (12) dribbles downfield during the Eagles’ 3-3 tie against undefeated Sacred Heart last Wednesday. The boys are currently 4-1-1 in league.

by Brian Chen, Kushal Shah, and Aditya Singhvi

The varsity boys soccer team tied undefeated Sacred Heart 3-3 last Wednesday at home, after having gone 8-2-1 in their overall season so far. 

Ishaan Mantripragada (10) scored the first goal against multiple Sacred Heart defenders. However, Sacred Heart retaliated and rattled off two straight goals before the half.

“I think [we won because of] chemistry and hard work pretty much. We know each other so well, we play so well together. We were all so fired up at every goal,” Ishaan Mantripragada (10) said.

Then, down 2-1 heading into halftime, the team discussed a new plan of attack to help them rebound from their previous mistakes. The Eagles also spoke on the importance of improving their own awareness of spacing on the field.

“It’s my second time watching [the team play]. The first time I had a lot of fun, and it was a really close game too. We [have] a good group of guys and it’s fun to support the kids who are in my math class and see them work hard on the field.” said Arjun Virmani (11).

After Sacred Heart scored early in the second half, bringing the score to 3-1, Andrew Cheplansky (12) led the comeback with two consecutive goals. After a penalty kick that brought the score to 3-2, a dramatic head bump only seconds before the end of regulation tied the game 3-3. 

“This game we put up a plan in place against a very good team. The perseverance, the comeback and find[ing] ways to tie the game, I thought was outstanding,” varsity boys soccer head coach Jeff Baicher said.

The varsity boys next play on Friday at Priory (1-6-1) at 3:30 p.m.