On Thursday, September 12th, the St. George’s First 11 looked to keep the good times rolling facing Panorama Ridge, following their 1-0 victory against Point Grey Secondary School earlier that week. Panorama Ridge traveled from Surrey to face the Saints. The game was divided into three periods, unlike the conventional two half procedure used in most levels of soccer. St. George’s came out firing and established the first goal of the game, courtesy of grade 12 Calen Falconer-Bayard. However, the Saints lead did not last long as Panorama Ridge netted their first goal later in the first period.
In the second period, Panorama ridge dominated, scoring three goals in a row. During the break between the second and third periods, St. George’s coach Mr. Steffen Tweedle gave the team an energetic pep talk and made a bold move by trusting Gr.10 goalie Will Sauder between the pipes. In the third period Saints had a fire lit under them and started to take control of the game once again. Will Sauder shut Panorama out in the third period and made a fantastic diving save against one of their strikers. Will’s performance seemed to spark the Saints intensity, which resulted in a comeback led by Will’s grade 12 brother,Theo Sauder. In the dying minutes of the third period, Theo assisted teammate Philip Wade (grade 12) twice, which resulted in two beautiful goals. The St. George’s comeback was short lived as the ref blew his whistle, ending the game at 4-3 for the Ridge.
Goalie Will Sauder had this to say about his team’s performance: “ I thought we had a strong start but failed to keep that intensity throughout the game. It wasn’t until the end of the game that we were able to pick up the pace again and that’s when it was too late.” The 1st 11’s next game is against the St. Georges grade 10 A team on Wednesday in a exhibition game to prepare for the ISA tournament at 3:30 on Nigel Toy Field.
