Monday, September 17, marked not only the home opener for the St. George’s 1^st XI varsity soccer team but also the first of many games against the school’s biggest rival, the Vancouver College Fighting Irish.

“Going into the game we were all nervous but prepared at the same time,” said Rahim Shivji, the starting right back. “Definitely a lot of people were thinking that Vancouver College had a stronger team this year and that we were weaker, but as the game progressed we found that we were evenly matched teams.”

With the score at 1-0 at halftime for the Vancouver College Fighting Irish, the St. George’s Saints knew the score clock was ticking down. A penalty kick from Connor Wittig, header from Theo Sauder, and a goal from Cathal Long brought the score up to 3-1 for the Saints. After the streak of goals by the Saints, the Irish showed that they still had some fight left in them as they came back to score one more goal ending the game at 3-2 for the Saints.

But as in any high level sport, injuries do unfortunately happen. Andrew Catliff, the team’s crucial left back, was hurt unintentionally while kicking the ball awkwardly in the first half of the game. “My MCL and meniscus are the problem; I twisted my leg awkwardly. I’ll know how long I’m out for after my MRI scan next week,” said Catliff. Chase Player, the Saint’s striker, is also out with a sprained ankle. Player is expected to be back in tip-top shape by the weekend, which also happens to be the important ISA tournament.

“We are going to play Brentwood College and St. Michael’s University at the ISA tournament this weekend. If we want to be successful we need to play more aggressively and do a better job of keeping possession of the ball,” said Shivji. As the Varsity team prepares for their next test, only time will tell whether they will be back to their full strength.