A loss for the team, a win for student life
On Saturday, Oct. 19, the PVCC Soccer Club faced off against Central Virginia Community College (CVCC) in the first match of the season. Many members of the faculty and staff were in attendance, including Mary-Evelyn Sellars, coordinator of student life and campus engagement; Kit Decker, interim dean of humanities & social sciences and professor of Spanish (who served as referee); and Elsa Spencer, assistant professor of biology and nutrition, who plays on the club team. Other spectators showed up in abundance, setting up chairs and blankets in the shady areas at the edge of the field. Throughout the first half of the game the CVCC offense kept the PVCC team from pushing the ball to the CVCC goal; however, when CVCC tried to score, it was blocked by PVCC’s goalie, Eddy Tennant.
Later in the first half, with teammates cheering them on, CVCC scored the first goal of the game. After the goal, PVCC captain Theo Staengle gave some of his players a break and subbed in the players waiting on the sidelines. Shouts of players and their teammates drifted across the field. PVCC player Aubrey Schwartz gained control of the ball, and set it in place for his teammate to make a goal. Silence fell as the ball arced higher and higher, just skimming past the top of the goal and falling behind it. After taking a minute to regroup, the team returned to the field and the game resumed. A few minutes later, PVCC scored the second goal of the game, bringing the score to an even 1-1.
With only a few minutes left before halftime, play began getting rougher. Two players tripped over the ball and fell in a tangle, a foul was called by CVCC, and when the ref dismissed it, the CVCC coach became visibly angry. Right before halftime, a PVCC player got knocked down, and could be seen with an icepack held to his jaw afterward.
Halftime was called at 4:02 p.m. with the score remaining at 1-1. After everyone had gotten water and a snack (provided by PVCC), Staengle gathered the team into a huddle and asked both what they thought they were doing well, and what they could work on. Everyone got a turn to talk as they discussed strategy, the main idea being that they needed to maintain better control of the ball. As player Jacob Engle said, “we don’t have to win the ball every time, just keep it in front of you.” After listening intently to what everyone had to say, Staengle gave each player their position for the start of the second half and then let them disperse.
Discussing the season with player Kat Blue, it seemed as though the team was optimistic for the season to come. “So far, this season, during our games we’ve been playing very well. Everyone is very good at passing and we don’t have any weak players,” Blue said.
During the second half, CVCC took the lead and scored twice in quick succession. A couple minutes later PVCC scored, bringing the score to 2-3. Though the game ended in a 2-4 loss for PVCC, it was a massive success for their soccer club. Nearly a dozen people watched the Instagram livestream of the game, and at least double that came to watch in person. there are more opportunities for students to engage in campus and student life. Registration for the PVCC basketball team is now open as well, and PVCC needs 12 players registered before the season starts in December.
