There’s a solemn procession marching off the sodden field. Perspiring and exhausted, silent and glum, the bus loads up with boys ready to go home and forget this game ever happened.

But in the locker rooms at Grim stadium, there’s a deafening cheer as the boys’ varsity soccer team celebrates their first win of the season.

The Tigers triumphed Friday night against the Marshall Mavericks with an ultimate score of 5-4, a victory made all the more sweet by fact that it’s the first this season.

“I’m pretty psyched about this,” senior Braden Sellers said. “It’s really brought us down with all the losses, and it really means a lot that everybody keeps going and doesn’t get their head down, doesn’t consider the season as a loss.”

The game started off shaky, with the Mavericks scoring in the opening minute. Junior Alex Hernandez evened the playing field by scoring with 37 minutes left in the first half, followed by another goal by junior Marc Jaramillo. But despite their efforts, the first half ended in disappointment with two successive goals by the Mavericks.

“[Halftime] was really rough,” Hernandez said. “Right after the first half we were just kinda heads down, like ‘it’s gonna happen again, it’s just like every game’. But we got to the locker rooms and everyone just started motivating each other, so when we got to the second half all that positivity came together.”

The Mavericks kicked off the second half with another goal with 35 minutes left, but two penalty kicks by senior Roger Moreno brought the Tigers neck-and-neck with their opponents to a score of 4-4. A stalemate ensued until Hernandez broke it with an assist from sophomore Logan Snell. From there, the Tigers held onto their lead, ending with a final score of 5-4.

“The kids did a heck of a job with staying resilient, fighting back,” soccer coach Clint Toon said. “We finally put it together tonight.”

With that longed-for win under their belt, the team looks forward to finishing the season strong.

“Hopefully we get a few more wins in,” Moreno said. “I’d like to play better for myself and play better for the team. Win or lose, I like to know that I played my best.”

But for now, all that’s left is unadulterated joy.
“It’s overwhelming, honestly,” Hernandez said. “Just seeing my teammates come together after winning a game was an amazing thing. We’ve been waiting for this for so long and it finally came. It’s a blessing.”