Loyola beat Chaminade on Jan. 16 at Loyola High School with a score of 6-0.
The game started at 5:00 in the evening. Rain poured throughout the entire game. Chaminade started the game with the ball. The first ten minutes were a balanced game with both sides having possession of the ball and making drives to the goal. Captain Henry Smith-Hastie scored Loyola’s first goal after a series of repeated shots on the goal. After Loyola’s first goal, the team began to play more aggressively. Forward Jake Gannon scored Loyola’s second goal on a clear shot directly at the goal, making the score at the end of the first half 2-0.
Loyola started the second half with the ball. Having confidence from the first two goals, the offense began to play more aggressively, allowing individual players to have the ball for longer. Defender Harrison Walker scored a goal for Loyola after a long rush past the defense towards the goal, making the score 3-0. After the third goal, many players were replaced from the bench, giving many alternates a chance to play. Two minutes after the last goal, Henry Smith-Hastie scored another goal for Loyola by ricocheting the ball off of a defender and past Chaminade’s goalie. Loyola continued to press the offense: Harrison Walker scored another goal off of a rush to the goal. At 73:00, Anthony Reznik scored Loyola’s sixth goal off of a corner kick. Loyola ended the game as winner with a score of 6-0.
When asked about the rain, Harrison Walker said, “Going in we expected to shut them out early on in the first half then really start to play. Early on, it was a little hard to get our touches because we were on a slick surface, but after the first 15 minutes, we started to connect our passes and play like we usually do.”
Nico Chapus noted Harry Walker as a standout player to him. He said, “Harry scored two goals. He didn’t get the hat trick but he was destroying the defenders with his speed. Earlier, we hadn’t been able to break down our opponents as well. We were getting good results, but there was something else we needed to do. When Harry started scoring, it seemed like we wanted to demoralize them.”
After Loyola’s victories against Harvard Westlake, Coach Walter said they would be in the driver’s seat. Walter said, “We are definitely in the driver’s seat because we control our destiny, but we still need to keep doing what we did today.