On October 3rd, the University School Preppers took on the St. Ignatius Wildcats, who were then 6th in the state. The Preppers were without two crucial players: senior Grant Wasserman due to a red card and junior Griffin Meyer out with an injury. An inexperienced but strong U.S team took the field with a 9-1-1 record.

In the first ten minutes of the match the Preppers were shaky and constantly losing possession of the ball, but with the help of senior Jacob Duijser, the backline was organized and fended off the Wildcats’ attack. Finally settling down and connecting passes, the Preppers began to build some momentum on the counter. With little possession, the Preppers had to stay focused defending, making sure there were no lapses of concentration. Senior Jake Hamilton made two stunning goal line saves to keep the game tied at 0-0.

Yet, the Preppers broke through at the twentieth minute mark. Sophomore Adam Kahn played a ball that split the Wildcats defense and landed at the feet of freshman Drew Schlegel. With quick, agile feet, Drew danced around the defender and scored a brilliant curling goal. The Preppers were ecstatic with taking the lead; however, they knew the game was not over.

The Preppers gained confidence with their goal and began passing quickly and thoughtfully. Although, with ten minutes remaining in the first half, the Preppers had a miscommunication within the box, and the Wildcats took their chance to equalize making the score 1-1 at half time.

The Wildcats had most of the possession in the second half, but a tireless Prepper defense allowed no openings for the Wildcats. Goalkeepers Michael Zemanek and Clayton Lovell helped lead a commanding defense with acrobatic saves and kept the game tied.

The team grinded out the finals minutes of the match, and nearly squeezed out a win with a last minute counter attack, but the industrious Preppers ended the match in a one all draw. The team has kept their home turf undefeated winning streak since the 2015 season and are hoping to continue this run throughout the rest of this season. The Preppers take on Western Reserve Academy at home on Saturday, October 7 at 3pm hoping to increase their record to 10-2-1.