The boys’ soccer team recaptured the Merle Hay Cup for the first time since 2015 when they defeated the Urbandale Jayhawks 2-0 on May 1. The difference in this game was were goals from Erik Catus ’19 in the 24th minute, his third goal this season and attacker Nicolas Garcia ’21 in the 46th minute, his third goal this season. With this victory, the boys have picked up their third straight win after losing the previous four and improve to 6-6 on the year.

The first half was highlighted by Catus’s goal in the 24th minute when he linked up well with Sam Swift ’20 in midfield. Swift played a great through ball to Catus on the left side of the box where he proceeded to calmly slide the ball under the onrushing Urbandale goalkeeper to make it 1-0. The goal was Catus’s third on the season and it was the first assist of the season for Swift. The boys had a scare in the 35th minute when Mitchell Hermon ’19 brought down an Urbandale striker when it looked like he was the last defender between the striker and goalkeeper Eduard Stancu ’19. The referee ruled that defender Matt Morris was behind Hermon and Hermon was only given a yellow card and not a red.

The boys almost scored two minutes into the second half when Catus had a header cleared off the line by an Urbandale defender. Then four minutes later in the 46th-minute attacker Jaden Jacobson ’20 had a golden opportunity off of a cross by Dominic Ford ’20 but he could not control the ball in time and his shot went out for a goal kick. Seconds later, attacker Joey Reyes ’19 won the ball on the right wing and delivered a great cross that Garcia was able to tap into the back of the net. Urbandale complained to the referee that he was offside but the line judge kept his flag down and the goal stood. In the 55th Garcia had a chance to grab a second goal when he played a great set of passes with Evan Kilstrom ’20 but his shot was saved the Urbandale goalkeeper.

Urbandale had quite a few chances to get back into this game but just could not get the ball into the back of the net. In the 58th minute, Stancu came off of his line but he made a fantastic save to keep Urbandale from scoring. Four minutes later in the 62nd minute, Stancu came off his line again but this time the Urbandale attacker got the ball past Stancu but Hermon was in the right place and cleared the ball off the line for a corner kick. On the ensuing corner, an Urbandale player was able to free up space and get a free header but he missed it just wide. The boys were able to defend well for the rest of the match and keep Stancu’s clean sheet.