Two FCIAC powerhouses in the Staples Wreckers and the Stamford Black Knights squared off on Sept. 21 resulting in a 1-1 contest.
The match was tight all the way through, with both teams showing good spurts of play throughout the 80 minutes. At the beginning of the game, the Black Knights looked the stronger side as they had the edge over the Wreckers in terms of ball possession, but, 34 minutes in, Staples opened the scoring.
Chase Watkins ’24 picked out Zach Beebe ’25 off a corner to give the Wreckers a one goal cushion. This goal certainly shifted the momentum towards Staples at the end of the first half, but the Black Knights didn’t go away by any means.
“My goal gave us a lot of confidence to finish the game strong and ultimately hold
Fout for the victory,” Beebe said. “But Stamford managed to remain in the game even after they went down, and you have to respect them for that.”
Early on in the second half, brilliance from the Stamford Black Knights set up Jayden Freeman to tap a ball in on the far post, which equalized the score in the 52nd minute. Although there were definitely chances on both ends, neither team could break the 1-1 deadlock as both teams had to settle for just one point in the standings.
“When Stamford scored the goal early in the second half, I felt that we deflated as a team a little bit,” Captain Santi Alfageme ’24 said. “If we want to keep finding success as a team, we have to respond to adversity better in those kinds of moments.”
The Staples Wreckers play their next game on Tuesday, Sept. 26 against the Ridgefield Tigers as they will look to rebound and ultimately collect a win.
