Rival games are always stressful, no matter who’s on the Cardinal bench or how many times they’ve beaten the Perry Meridian Falcons before. And, coming back to play against the Falcons after beating them to win sectionals last year is no exception. 

The Cardinals lost 4-0 to the Falcons on Wednesday, Aug. 24. While the team did struggle in multiple areas across the field, Perry seemed to be the more experienced team overall.. 

“We’ve got to give Perry the credit,” Boys Soccer Head Coach, David Stroup said. “They came out and beat us tonight, just played better soccer.” 

Though the Cards had a good amount of shots on goal, around six or seven, Perry’s defense was too strong for them to have the opportunity to score. Their passes were on point to each other, and they had impressive first touches on the ball, but it was a challenge to get the ball anywhere close to the 18-yard box. 

While the Cards did struggle around the field, they also made some good plays. A lot of their passes made it where they wanted. They were controlling the ball well by using group passes, and they even had some breakaways. 

“We’ve been struggling the last couple games,” Stroup said. “Four nothing is never a good result, but overall I think we did okay.”

The defenders on the team were working hard on the back line. They had numerous blocks, dives and tackles against the Falcons. They were also able to draw a couple of fouls for shots on goal. 

While the Cards do have some more work to do, they haven’t lost too much from last year. Losing seniors is tough on any team, especially in soccer.

But, part of the sport is being able to bounce back from losing those players, and the boys soccer team is looking to be on the right path to being able to rebuild. 

“We’re gonna sit down and watch this game as a team,” Stroup said. “We’re gonna figure out what went wrong together and see how we can figure some things out.”