After resting up with its first round bye in the playoffs, boys soccer took on Richard Montgomery and lost Nov. 2 in the regional quarterfinals. The team started off slow in the first half and did not get many opportunities on goal.

“We were giving the ball away too often and playing too many long balls,” head coach Arnold Tarzy said. 

 CHS’s play continued more of the same until about halfway through the second half when RM scored. The Rockets’ goal put the Bulldogs down 0-1 with 17 minutes left in the game when the defense made a mistake clearing the ball.

 According to Tarzy, after RM’s goal, the Bulldogs changed their formation and added an extra attacker to apply more pressure.  

 But then things worsened as freshman Tobias Kastan received a red card one minute later and was ejected from the game. 

 “After the red card happened, we were down a goal and a player,” senior Petey Liakakis said. “We needed to step up the work and everyone stepped up.”

 After a corner kick sent long with 14 minutes remaining in the game, sophomore defender Sander Yu sent the ball back into the box and Liakakis scored the equalizing goal. 

 “Sander sent it back in, and it came right to me,” Liakakis said. “It couldn’t have been closer. It went off the crossbar and then in.”

On the last play in the first overtime, senior captain Stephen Hauschild had an opportunity to score on a free kick just outside the penalty box, however the shot was saved. Then, with four minutes left in the second overtime, Hauschild blasted the ball just wide of the goal.
 The third time was the charm. With three minutes and 17 seconds left in the game and with penalty kicks in the back of everyone’s mind, Hauschild ripped a shot from outside the penalty box. The shot stayed low, skidded on the pitch, bounced off the chest of the diving goalkeeper and rolled across the goal line. 

 “It was a bit messy by the goalie,” Tarzy said. “I feel bad for him, but the ball had a lot of pace on it and that’s why you shoot.”   

As soon as the ball crossed the goal line, the bench cleared and the team celebrated, along with some fans who rushed the field, with a dog pile all around Hauschild. 

“I ran around and I didn’t want to get tackled by my team, but they eventually tackled me,” Hauschild said.

The third-seeded Bulldogs faced second-seeded Magruder Nov. 5 with a spot in the regional finals at stake. CHS tied Magruder 0-0 in the regular season, but this time was different.
Magruder scored early in the game and took a 1-0 lead going into halftime. In the second half, the Colonels took advantage of some mistakes by the Bulldogs backline and scored two more goals. However, CHS did not give up as Kastan scored the goal off of a cross from senior Aaron Bartko. Unfortunately, the goal was not enough and the Bulldogs season ended with a 3-1 loss. 

“[It was] a lot of fun and I wish it didn’t end,” Hauschild said. “I wouldn’t want [this season] any other way.”