The soccer program recently traveled to Philadelphia to test their mettle against some of the top teams in the nation. The “Best of Cup” is a tournament of immense importance on the recruitment front of soccer, as it brings together some of the best teams on the East Coast for college coaches to scout. This year, the U19s made a statement with two stellar performances, topping their group and tying with professional academy Philadelphia Union for the most points in the whole tournament.
The U19 soccer side. Photo provided.
While these results from the U19s may seem like they had a cakewalk in the tournament, they were quite the opposite, especially the second of their two games. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the U19s arrived on the field for the 8 o’clock kickoff without a goalkeeper.
The issue was realized around 20 minutes before the game was scheduled to start when, after looking around for the goalkeeper to no avail, Leo Doyle 25’ dropped the bomb: “Guys, we left Edy at the hotel.” The team was initially in disbelief, which quickly turned to determination and acceptance of the situation as the coaches walked over for the pregame talk.
As the message was relayed to the coaches, they weren’t too pleased with the situation. Yet they calmed down and told the players there was nothing to be done. “You made your bed, and now you got to sleep in it, boys,” said Coach Jose Coss. The coaches told the players they had no choice: they could win the game or be in a boatload of trouble afterward. Safe to say, that was all the motivation the team needed; however, there was still one looming issue: there was nobody between the sticks. Enter—center-back Jackson Weyl ‘25, who volunteered to go in the net for the sake of the team.
“I played two years of goalie back in elementary school, but that’s not saying much,” Weyl remarked. The team was unsure of his prowess in the net, but what choice did they have? They accepted Jackson’s gracious sacrifice, and the match kicked off.
The U19s came out of the blocks hot, immediately putting their opponents, Lehigh Valley Rush FC, under immense pressure. The opponents were unable to even lay a foot on the ball as the ball movement of the U19s was too strong. It wasn’t long before Northwood broke the ice, striking early with a goal from Ryan Farr ‘25. Said El Eyssami ‘26 and Alex Darby ‘26 followed suit shortly after, with impressive goals of their own. The defense of the Huskies held up well, barring a few chances, which Jackson handled with the poise of a seasoned goalkeeper.
The second half was the same story, only with a different keeper. For the second half, 3rd year senior Diego Green ’25 decided to relieve Jackson from his post. “There were lots of good schools at the match, and I felt that Jackson deserved the chance to impress them at his regular position,” said Green. With Diego in the net in winter gloves and a shirt reading “Jesus Saves”, the team went back into the game with just as much passion as before. Northwood continued the pressure on the opponents, missing narrowly many times. Back in goal, Diego made many saves of varying difficulty, even saving a point-blank shot from the opposition. Although the opponents broke through once, bringing the score line to a final of 3-1 in favor of the Huskies, it was a valiant performance all around.
With their mettle tested and proven, the U19s now look ahead to the Black Rock Winter Showcase in New Hampshire next weekend, this time with a goalkeeper firmly accounted for.
