5th Grade Wins JV Soccer Championship
Congratulations to the SJS 5th grade soccer team on winning the JV Championship this past weekend!
The 5th grade coaches sent in the following information the wished to share: Both the semi-final and championship games were decided on penalty kicks, making it a day of overwhelming emotions for the kids. Our team was down 2-0 in the first game and the kids showed such resilience and grace under pressure, coming back with 3 unanswered goals before ending the game in a tie. Brady Pagani was the MVP of the tournament by far with a tremendous effort in goal. He stopped some amazing shots and kept the team alive during both the penalty kicks. Sarah Christina scored the game winning goal in the championship.
There was a lot of fear of elimination with each kick followed by extreme happiness when a kick was stopped by Brady or a goal was scored by SJS. Mr. Roy, Mr. Blackwell, Mr. Herr, and Mr. McMullen (the team’s coaches) said that, despite emotions running high, the kids showed great sportsmanship and respect for the opposing teams. This was something the team has been working on improving this year, after some incidents earlier in the season, and the coaches stressed they were very proud of how the kids conducted themselves on Saturday.
One player, Peter Famiglietti, really stood out in the final game. Before Peter took his penalty kick he went up and shook hands with the goalie from the other team – a mutual sign of respect. After Peter scored his goal our kids were jumping with celebration behind him. Instead of running back into the arms of his teammates, Peter went back up to the goalie and shook his hand again. The goalies have the world on their shoulders in this moment. They feel the game is won or lost by their ability to make a save. The goalie was visibly upset and Peter knew the feeling and wanted to show him support. Although Peter was extremely excited he knew this was just a game and that goalie needed some support.
The coaches and administration wish to thank the parents for their support throughout the season. Below is a team picture sent in by Mrs. Italia.
