R-MA went into only its second game of the regular season against one of the powerhouses of the Delaney Athletic Conference (DAC) in Seton.
In the opening 20 minutes it was R-MA that looked like the more fluid team, dominating possession and creating the best scoring opportunities. Towards the end of the half, Seton started to come into the game more and scored an opportunistic goal with a 30 yard shot as keeper Cailen Baggett ‘18 got both hands to full stretch, but just squeezed through into the goal.
Coming out into the second half it was R-MA again who pushed the hardest for an equalizer and looked most likely to score. It was one of those nights where a shot hit the post in both halves when the keeper was beaten. Two goal-bound shots were scrambled off the line and the Seton keeper saved a number of shots in one-on-one situations.
Midway through the half Seton was awarded a penalty that took all players on both teams by surprise. The resulting goal took the bite out of the contest and Seton nicked a third goal off a corner as R-MA continued to push for a goal.
Despite being the first loss of the season, this was by far the strongest performance as the team starts to gel and gain the understanding that comes from playing a number of games together. This performance is something to celebrate after a game that could so easily have gone the other way if the ball had just bounced more kindly and the Seton keeper had not had such an outstanding game.
R-MA can look forward to the coming week when they meet two more of the strongest teams in the DAC and get to test their mettle once more