Upper School Teams

Bulldog Soccer Tied by Landon on Penalty Kick in Injury Time

Staff
 
The Landon Bears arrived at Steuart Field Tuesday with a 4-0 record in IAC play and a goal differential of 15-4 in those games.  For over 80 minutes the St. Albans defense, led by mid-fielder Rustin Khosravi marking Landon’s top player, held the high-powered Bears offense in check.  Goalkeepers Spencer Hall and Scott Speaker made timely saves when called upon and the backline of Thomas Schehl, Leo Siegel, Amari Jack, and Jack Sabel smothered most of Landon’s attacks.  It was clear from the start that St. Albans’ mindset was to take the game to the Bears rather than sit back and try to defend.  Wayne Frederick was taken down inside the penalty area just three minutes into the game, but the Landon goalkeeper dove all the way across the net to knock a ball away as it neared the far left corner.  Undeterred, Frederick kept pressing the attack along with James Boyle, Niall Fergus and Chris Bates.  Frederick drew another foul in the penalty area at the 16:50 mark and this time he buried the kick to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.   
 
From that point forward the teams were locked in a field position battle with sporadic breakthroughs, corner kicks and close-in free kicks that both defenses turned away.  As the second half wound down, the bleachers swelled with STA students whose practices in other sports were ending and each team’s fans were drawn to their feet and edge of their seats as the Bulldogs held onto their one-goal lead and the Bears pressed for the tying score.  With the scoreboard clock frozen at 78:00 as is customary at the end of games so the game official can account for injury time, the game continued to see-saw back and forth for what seemed like three to four minutes.  Then St. Albans was called for a foul in the penalty area and Landon had one final chance to bring the game back to even.  And that’s what happened despite a valiant save attempt by Bulldog keeper Scott Speaker.  After the final regulation whistle blew a few seconds later, the Bulldogs had to gather themselves as they prepared for overtime in which any goal would win the game.  Both teams stayed aggressive throughout the two 5-minute overtime periods but could not break through for the game-winning score.  The tie is the first blemish on Landon’s IAC season as they maintain a 4-point lead on St. Albans for first place with a record of 4-0-1 for 13 points.  The Bulldogs stay unbeaten in IAC play at 2-0-3 for 9 points.  Updated IAC standings can be found here https://www.iacathletics.com/full-standings/3/7.  The game marked the end of the Bulldogs’ first pass through their IAC opponents.  St. Albans hosts Bullis this Friday at 4:30pm on Steuart Field.  The teams tied 1-1 at Bullis on September 28.   
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Located in Washington D.C.,  St. Albans School is a private, all boys day and boarding school. For more than a century, St. Albans has offered a distinctive educational experience for young men in grades 4 through 12. While our students reach exceptional academic goals and exhibit first-rate athletic and artistic achievements, as an Episcopal school we place equal emphasis upon moral and spiritual education.