The Tuesday night Cleveland Boys Varsity Soccer home match started shortly after a heavy downfall of rain and though they found early success, Cleveland lost its footing in the second half, ending up with a disappointing 1-1 tie against David Douglass. Around the 25 minute mark in the first half up-and-coming freshman star Jett Starr scored a fantastic goal assisted by sophomore midfielder Anil Bharati. After Starr passed the ball wide right to Bharati near the opposing endline, he was looking for Bharati to pass the ball to his front foot near the right goal post. Bharati delivered perfectly. The Cleveland team looked dominant throughout most of the rest of the half, with the opposing goalie being forced to make clutch saves to avoid falling into a deeper deficit. Cleveland goalie Oliver Aguirre, senior, did well in clearing the ball to the eagerly waiting Cleveland strikers and the team looked poised to run away with the game.

All of the momentum the Cleveland team had built in the first half disappeared after they exited the locker room to play another 45 minutes of soccer. Around the 65th minute in the second half junior Nedim Hergic on David Douglass scored a goal after multiple Cleveland giveaways in the midfield. What was looking like a runaway victory over last year’s 4th in state David Douglass team had transformed into a desperate effort to prevent a loss. Cleveland looked like a completely different team in the second half as Jett Starr put it with, “We got too satisfied with where we were after the first half and the team fell apart as a result.” Aguirre was forced to make multiple saves throughout the rest of the game and the match ended in a draw. The team will face Liberty on Thursday, September 8th.

Notes: Team Captain Peter Gregory was unable to play in the game due to an ankle injury.