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The Red Hot Soccer Cats

By Gianluca DiGiacomo '22, 09/22/21, 5:00PM EDT

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After wins against rivals St. Edward and Archbishop Moeller, the Soccer Cats stand at 10-0-0 on the season.

OHIO CITY, Oh - The Saint Ignatius Wildcats are continuing to take the field by storm, as they secured two more wins through these recent weeks, as the Cats picked up crucial victories to pick up where they previously left off. The Cats are up to ten consecutive wins, tallying on a whopping 61 goals scored, with just three goals conceded.

Saint Ignatius Wildcats 6, Saint Edward Eagles 0

On Wednesday, September 15, the Wildcats were facing one of the most emotionally trifling games of the year; to take on their rivals the Saint Edward Eagles. Tensions were high, with incredible passion, large amounts of supporters, and some beautiful weather. There was a lot on the line for both teams, both mentally and physically.

The match started with good speed; both teams showed that scoring and tempo control were top priorities on the players’ minds. Some good box-to-box football ensued, with the Wildcats slowly pulling the rope into their favor.

About six and a half minutes into the match, the Cats made a remarkable run down the pitch, with Owen Sullivan cutting inside and drawing a penalty near the touchline.

Rimac set down the ball at the penalty spot and placed it into the bottom corner with confidence. Cats take a quick 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Eagles, this would only be the beginning of the Wildcats’ run of terror on the offensive side.

Not long after, Owen Sullivan played Nolan Spicer through on goal. Spicer had a shot on goal, which was originally saved, but the deflection just elevated it over defenders and into the goal, 2-0.

Rimac broke the plane as he cut inside and scored a gorgeous goal, finessing it from the right-hand side into the top left corner of the goal with a surprisingly tight angle.

Finally, Rimac would seal his hat trick after a brilliant long ball from Collin Folds, cutting inside and finishing in the bottom corner. The Wildcats would go into the half, leading 4-0 over their rival team.

The Wildcats would tally on two more goals in the second half, as Zsombor Onodi put on the fifth and Giancarlo Sarti tallying on the sixth. A brilliant team display fueled with passion and confidence. The Wildcats knew they had bigger fish to fry after the match, as next, they would take on a top team ranked in the state, Archbishop Moeller.

Saint Ignatius Wildcats 8, Archbishop Moeller Crusaders 0

The Wildcats came into this match knowing they had a much more significant challenge on their hands, as the Crusaders went in as one of the top-ranked teams in the state. With a warmer climate and an unusual mid-day start time, tensions rose as the mighty Wildcats looked to stretch their brilliant season, while the Crusaders came in with an inclination to push them off the top of the high school soccer mountain.

The Cats brought in the first goal just eight minutes in after an impressive start from the opposition. Josip Rimac brought the ball down the line before squaring it into the middle for Nathan Trickett, who got past the defender with the excellent first touch and struck the ball into the back of the net. A quick start strand of immanence from the side. Likewise to the previous game, things would only go downhill for the opposition.

Archbishop Moeller @ Saint Ignatius Highlights

The Cats would run a bit dry for the next portion of the game offensively but remained sharp and confident on the ball, dominating possession. A ball was played into Antonio Morini later, and he tapped it in to make it 2-0, with Morini picking up a well-deserved first goal of the season. The third goal came a bit over one minute later, with Owen Sullivan playing Nolan Spicer clean through as he placed in another one.

In the 36th minute, Nolan Spicer would secure his brace with another goal, taking the ball off the foot of the center back and blasting it past the keeper. The Wildcats would go into the half with an impressive 4-0 lead.

To the disdain of the Crusaders, the Wildcats’ attacking performance would only enhance.

Rimac would breeze past a fullback and smash the ball into the top netting with such power to increase the lead to 5-0, only twelve minutes into half number two.

Goal number six was quite good, as Sullivan fed Luciano Pechota the ball outside of the 18-yard box. Pechota turned sharply and had a crack at goal, placing it over the keeping and into the top of the net in such precise fashion, quite the masterful piece of work to increase their advantage.

The final two goals were fairly simple: Will Armsworthy knocked in the 7th, and Giancarlo Sarti struck in the 8th. The Wildcats brought a brilliant performance to a close, 8-0 the final score.

The Wildcats now have 61 goals on the season, only ten matches in, while only conceding three, none of which were scored within the open field of play (one penalty, one header off of a free-kick, and one header off of a corner).

Next, the Wildcats will be on the road to Toledo to take on Toledo St. Francis on Saturday, September 25. Coverage will be on SIBN, so stay tuned, and Go Cats!