Despite the weather, a great time was had by all at the annual Alumni soccer game.

Posted: Oct 14, 2023

Varsity Takes Down Alumni via Penalty Kicks

Despite the inclement weather, a large group of alumni soccer players and fans attended Saturday's annual Alumni Soccer game and were treated. As has been the tradition the past three years, the two squads battled to the end and for the third straight year, the game was decided on penalty kicks. In 2022, the alumni team won on penalty kicks. This year, it was the varsity team's turn as the topped the alums 5-3 on PKs to claim the victory.

As seems to be the case in most years, the game starts slow in the first half and then heats up in the second half. This year was no exception. The teams battled back and forth but at halftime, the score was 0-0.

The alms got on the board in under four minutes to start the second half, as Chris Smith 1W9 scored on a beautiful unassisted goal to put them up 1-0. It was no surprise that Smith would score. One of the college's best players in recent history, he has scored in the last three alumni games.

It looked for the longest time that that goal would be enough, as alumni goalie Ryan Haines 1W8 made several great saves, three alone in one sequence. Yet, with time running out, the varsity was able to finally crack the ice, as Richard Lusch scored with just 2:15 left in regulation to tie things at 1-1 and send it to penalty kicks.

There is a saying when it comes to penalty kicks that you can lose if you don't miss. The varsity took that to heart, as Jonathan Illing, Zachary Bosak, Dan Maroney, Dylan Burke and Richard Lusch all made their kicks. Kevin Ryan 9W6, Caleb Hawkins 1W9 and Eugene O'Brien 1W3 scored for the alums, but a missed attempt gave the varsity the win, 5-3.

"It is a fun game and we are blessed that so many of our alumni came back to play in the game, despite the weather. Each of them is a very special part of our Williamson soccer history and always will be. To have them take time to come back and support the event and interact with our players means a great deal to us and we could not be more thankful," shared long-time Williamson director of athletics Dale Plummer.

Special thanks to all our alumni soccer players who took part in today's game:

Andrew Abrams 1W2

Yohan Banfield 0W4

Rey Calvello 0W4

Dan Coleman 1W7

John Coleman 1W9

Ryan Haines 1W8

Caleb Hawkins 1W9

Tim MacFarland 2W0

Jesse Martinez 1W7

Eugen O'Brien 1W3

Kevin Ryan 9W6