Soccer Bucs Shine on Senior Night

Terry RogersHeadlines, Milford Headline Story, Sports

By Kevin Eickman

Milford Bucs were victorious over Polytech in the Senior Night Match

Thursday night at Briggs Stadium, Milford hosted Polytech in their final home game of the season. It would be their last night on home turf for the Buccaneer senior players. Milford responded by controlling the contest from start to finish on their way to a 3-0 victory over visiting Polytech.

Milford started the scoring early as senior Manny Joseph crashed towards the left side of the net off a pass from fellow senior Dominic Schneck before calmly blasting a shot into the top right of the net from 15 yards out in the game’s third minute. For Joseph, it was important to set the tone early: “We wanted to control this game from the start, and we did. Playing your last game at home is important, and we were very excited about it and wanted to make a statement early.”

The Buccaneers would continue their dominance for the remainder of the first half, constantly applying pressure to Polytech. The pressure paid off a second time as sophomore Rikelmer Ramirez-Arreaga would score, this time coming in on the right side before scoring the game’s second goal. Milford would take the comfortable 2-0 advantage into the locker room.

The game’s final goal would come off the foot of sophomore Freedly Nelson, who would blow by a defender and place a solid strike past the exposed Polytech goalkeeper, tallying the game’s final score with just five minutes remaining in the contest.

In the game’s final minutes, Milford would make some substitutions to recognize the seniors that have given so much of themselves to the soccer program over the years. The largest ovation of all would be that of senior goalkeeper Fernando “Junior” Flores who relished turning in a clean sheet in his final home game

“Any time you keep a team off the scoreboard is nice. But when you do it in your final home game it is really special,” Flores said. “I really have loved my time here at Milford and just love the way this group has hung together.”

Schneck, who truly loves the sport of soccer and his teammates echoed the thoughts of Flores.

“What a great night this was. We had our ups and downs this season, I had to learn a new position which took some time,” Schneck said. “When you take a look at it though this is just so much fun, I really love this sport and I am honored to have helped be a small part of helping to build this program.”

Other seniors who played their final game in maroon and gold were Alvaro Carrillo, Daniel Martinez, Liam Kilgore and Alexander Bauer. The win was crucial to keep Milford’s tournament hopes alive. As it stands now, Milford is on the bubble with the DIAA tournament committee scheduled to meet this weekend. Speaking with the team’s coach, Prince Kemmerlin, it was clear that this night was all about the seniors

“To go out and play the way we did tonight in our final home game was wonderful. We took control early and everyone just played with joy tonight, I loved it,” Kemmerlin said. “Specifically with this group of seniors that I have known since they were in the Central Academy, this is a very special win for them.”

 

 

 

 

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