Sant Bani 2 - New Hampton JVA 1

Sant Bani School’s soccer team gained an upset 2-1 victory over the New Hampton JVA’s on Monday afternoon. After the game, SBS coach Todd Schongalla said, “It’s been twelve years since we’ve been able to beat them. What an effort.”

Both teams were evenly matched, as play was up and down the field well into the first half. Sant Bani struck first in the 22nd minute as junior Zhenglin Yu found the back of the net, on a pass from senior co-captain Harrison Evans. Shortly thereafter, New Hampton came roaring back and would have tied the game had it not been for the goaltending of junior Ander Treviño Aizpurua, who blocked consecutive New Hampton shots at point blank range. Not to be denied, with less than a minute to play in the half, New Hampton’s Nick LaBate and Richard Prey finally got one behind Treviño and sent the teams to the break locked up at 1 apiece, giving the crowd a chance to catch their breath.

New Hampton came out in the second half riding the wave of LaBate’s late first-half goal and kept the pressure on Sant Bani’s defense. After ten minutes of play, mostly in their own end of the field, Sant Bani’s Evans took the ball almost the length of the field, putting his team up 2-1 and shifting the momentum for what proved to be the rest of the match.