First Annual Student Vs Faculty Soccer game
Student-faculty games are a tradition here at Galloway, and last Tuesday was the most recent one. Some of you may recall the basketball game a few months ago where the faculty took the win. This time, students were ecstatic to see the students’ team win 6 to 1 in soccer.
The faculty roster included Clay Randel, Mallory Ward, Meghan Stauts, Mrs. Armstrong, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Copley, Mr. M, Ricky Emmons, Ms. Rascoe, Ms. Sanders, Mr. Watson, DW, Ms. Hall, Ann Fountain, Jordan Griffin. Coaching the teachers were Ellis Balser, Lily Nelson, Riley Macdonald, and Olivia Williams.
The student roster had students from all four grade levels: Alex Lewis ‘23, Amir Arrington ‘23, Chase Buffington ‘23, Evan Herman ‘26, Giancarlo Martinez-Saldana ‘24, Kate Tocci ‘25, Luke Birch ‘25, Mekai Stevenson ‘23, Reese Alexandris ‘24, Reggie Johnson ‘24, Ryan Levin ‘25, Shaheen Bagheri ‘24, Tyler Linsky ‘24, Will Morrison ‘25, Walker Hale ‘23, Efe Colakoglu ‘26, Dylan Homer ‘26. Coaching the students were Abby Feldstein, Jonathan Layton, Jack Wasserman, and Nolan Alexander. We also had two referees, Gideon Nelson and Jack Murnane; an announcer, Frank Melkonian; and our time and scorekeeper was Eliana Diaz-Williamson.
Here is a overview of the game for those who weren’t there:
The first shot of the game was made by Clay, but the first point scored was Dylan for the students. Shortly after, Clay scored the faculty’s first point. One of the most exciting parts of the game was the end of the first quarter when Giancarlo scored an amazing goal from half court just as the buzzer rang; unfortunately, referee Jack didn’t end up counting it. This led to Giancarlo being red- carded for aggressiveness with the ref. The second quarter had numerous notable moments. Shaheen got a handball as the second quarter came to a close, and DW kicked the ball into the faculty goal, scoring another point for the students, which was all before the students called a time out with 1.51 seconds left. Soon after, while defending, Mekai launched the ball into the dividing net in the ceiling. He also accidently pushed Mallory down.
Half-time score: 2-1
After a very entertaining performance by Scotty that both the student body and faculty enjoyed, the game resumed. To start off, Luke scored the third goal for the students. However, this was not the end of their goals, as Tyler followed up by scoring yet another one. The faculty concluded with no points in the third quarter. And, there was another red card as Reggie took the ball and scored a basket, causing the students to stand up in excitement. And Jack, the students’ coach, got a yellow card for being aggressive with the refs.
The start of the fourth quarter was very exciting, and everybody was bringing their all. In the first few seconds, Clay made a slide tackle to make a shot on goal, but Shaheen made an amazing block. Shaheen got Clay back by megging him, and a few seconds later he made another meg on DW. Towards the middle of the game, things get physical. Mr. Copley got shoved down by Reese, who didn’t receive any red or yellow cards. Ms. Hall got the ball from Reese and had an amazing attempt on goal. Seconds later, Mr. Watson seems to be confused and reaches his hand up as if to catch the ball, earning him a hand ball call. Dylan then uses this opportunity to take the ball to goal, where he faces three defenders. He shoots and he scores!
At the end of the game, Shaheen said, “We’re better. Better than them.” Meanwhile, DW said, "I love soccer almost as much as I love basketball, and it was fun to compete against the students. I was also embarrassingly sore the next morning! I'm not as young as I used to be. . ." In response to the loss, Lily, the faculty’s coach, said, “It's a tough loss, but we believe that our teachers gave all of their effort and did very well.” Everybody put everything into this game, which was seen in the sprinting across the court, the shoving, the numerous people defending the goal, and the teamwork displayed by both sides. It was an exciting game to watch, and we’re sure an even more exciting game to play! Everyone did amazing and had a great time. We can’t wait for the next one!
By Bay Tilley & Hasita Yalamanchili