Soccer Saturday is an annual tradition for all levels of both girls and boys soccer at James Caldwell High school. The day has both girls and boys freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity teams competing throughout the day. There is Caldwell Soccer merchandise sold to raise money for the programs, as well as foods and snacks; there are also cheerleader halftime performances, a 50-50 raffle, and a sports ceremony in between the two varsity games.
The first game of the day started off by the freshman boys team at 9 am. The tough match against Summit’s freshman team sadly ended with a 2-1 loss. Soon following, the junior varsity stepped onto the pitch to play Summit themselves. Similarly to the freshman team however, the boys JV team also lost, this time 1-0. The day began to look up as the junior varsity girls stepped onto Bonnel field to play Verona High School. The girls had an amazing game, winning with a score of 5-0 against the Verona team.
Next up was the Varsity Girls game against the Varsity Verona team. Coming off of a six game losing streak and going five games without scoring, the team was hungry for a win on this Saturday afternoon. The girls kicked off the game at 2 p.m. and got off to an early lead with sophomore Fallon Fiore getting a shot off in the first half, getting her first goal of the season. Going into the second half, a second goal was scored by junior Addison Keenan giving the varsity team a good lead. Unfortunately, soon after the second was scored, Verona was able to put two goals into the back of Caldwell’s net, making it a tie game. The girls, staying positive, gained a corner with 4:47 seconds left in the second half. With a ball played by sophomore Vivienne Tolchin, senior captain Addy Cook scored a last minute header with 4:38 minutes left in the game. As the game came to an end, the defensive line kept tight and secure to maintain the lead and overall win with junior Goalkeeper Angelica Parathath having 15 saves and completing 300 carrier saves.
Directly after the needed win was achieved by the varsity girls soccer team, there was a ceremony to present the Colonel John McHugh Memorial Soccer Saturday award to two deserving seniors. The award honors the JCHS seniors in the soccer community who lead with leadership, dedication, and service on and off the field. This year, the award(s) were given to seniors Ryan Keenan and Mia Rodriguez, both captains of their respective teams.
Quickly following the ceremony, the boys varsity team began to warm up for their game vs. the Summit High School Varsity team at 4 p.m. In just the first half, the JCHS boys were down 2-0 and wanted to come out strong for the second half of the game. Unfortunately, the team conceded another goal in the second half and only took two shots in the game entirely, leaving the final score to be 3-0. Senior Goalkeeper Brody Newman had five saves that game out of eight total shots.
During the halftime of both the girls and boys varsity games, the JCHS varsity cheerleaders performed one of their dances—also known as their ‘rain dance’—during halftime. Also during the boys varsity halftime, winners of the 50-50 raffles were announced. These raffle prizes ranged from Starbucks rewards to cash prizes! The raffles along with Caldwell Soccer apparel were sold right in front of the field’s entrance.
Overall, the soccer tradition carries on and serves as a reminder of the importance of supporting local teams and communities as a whole. From the long time traditions and awards to overall game play, the day is a fun activity for people to do on a Saturday evening to support the Caldwell schools and their athletic programs.
