This year’s 2017-18 Winter Soccer Championship Tournament was held in Houston, Texas from Thursday, February 15th to Saturday, February 17th. We had placed fourth in the North Division, so we did not have a bye for the first game of the SPC tournament. Instead, we had a game Thursday night.

Our first game was against St. Stephen’s. We went into this game confident in what we had accomplished. Half way through the first half, Jimmy Garda received the ball in the midfield. He used his speed to get past the first defender. Then when he was about 18 yards away from the goal, he beat the last defender. He shot the ball, scoring near post making the score 1-0. We controlled the game for the entire first half, and then the second half began. We struggled to keep possession during this half. St. Stephen’s was starting to get more opportunities to shoot the ball. The score remained one to zero for the long time until we fouled St. Stephen’s with no time left in the game. They served a ball into the box and we cleared it as far as we could, winning the game. It was hard fought game for both teams. We came into the game knowing we could win and we executed.

The next day, at 12:00pm we were set to play Episcopal, who came into the tournament with an undefeated record only having allowed one goal all season.  Episcopal was the favorite to win this tournament having won the SPC tournament the past two years. The first half began and we found ourselves struggling to gain possession of the ball. We knew coming into the game that we were not going to be able to maintain possession of the ball for very long, so we decided that our strategy was going to be to defend for as long as possible and then attack at the very end of the game. Towards the end of the first half they scored a goal putting them up one to zero. We were disappointed that we couldn’t shut them out for the first half, but we still had another half to go. Episcopal continued to control the ball for most of the second half, but our strong defense began to frustrate them. We suspect they have not seen this kind of resistance in the South this season.  In the middle of the second half, Evan took a spectacular shot from inside of the box and hit the crossbar and the ball deflected it to Christian who then headed it barely over the crossbar!  I think Episcopal knew at this point that Cistercian was going to give them a workout. We came so close to tying the game right then and there. Neither team scored in the second half. With seconds left on the clock and everyone in the stands on their feet making noise, we had a corner kick. Caleb, our goalie, ran the entire length of the field to get in the box to try one last time to tie the game. The cross came in and Caleb headed it down. He then fell to the ground and shot the ball into the back of the net. Coach Walsh began running with joy because we thought we had tied the toughest team in SPC. The referee called a foul on our team for an unknown reason crushing our hopes of winning the game.

The final day of our tournament was a match against St. John’s for fifth place. Sadly, it was the senior’s last soccer game for Cistercian, so we started every single senior on the team and we watched with pride as they played the last game of the season. Midway thought the first half, Chase received the ball just outside the 18-yard box. He beat the first man with a fake and then shot the ball right over the goalie’s head and just under the crossbar, putting us up one to zero. Not long after that, a through ball was played to Jimmy who then shot it passed the keeper making it 2 two to zero by halftime, but we had a rough second half. St. John’s was outplaying us. With ten minutes left in the game they scored making it a close game. Then once again, with seconds on the clock, they played the ball into the box and scored tying the game. Now it was time for penalty kicks to decide who would win the game and take 5th place in SPC.  Cistercian had made four out of the five penalty kicks and St. John’s had made three of their four penalty kicks. It all came down to the last kick. If Caleb made the save, we would win the game. The player shot the ball and Caleb dove and saved it. Immediately we all rushed over to Caleb and dog piled on top of him! The emotions of a long hard-fought season seem to rush out and pour onto the field. This game was an exciting last game for the seniors and for all of us to be a part of. “I’ve played soccer nearly my whole life, and never once did I think of how it would all end. Standing at midfield, shoulder to shoulder with my teammates, it was as if nothing else in the world mattered except for this one penalty kick. Watching Caleb make that save on the last penalty kick, was better than any ending I could’ve dreamed of,” said Conner McConnell ’18. This is what Cistercian athletics is all about.