HHS’s Boys Varsity Soccer team won against Medway High Shcool’s team in their away game on Tuesday, October 12, with a score of 3-2.

Hopkinton faces Medway every year, and Medway has time and time proved again that they are a strong competitor. “They’re always a competitive and well-coached team, and so going into the game, the focus was on being well organized and minimizing mistakes and competing for the whole 80 minutes,” said head coach Garret Sawyer.

While describing his feelings before the game, goalie Aditya Sathishkumar said, “I was not nervous at all as we played this team at the beginning of the season and won against them. That being said, we couldn’t afford to overestimate the opponent and let our guard down because that’s how strong teams end up losing what they thought would be easy games.”

On the bus ride to Medway, the team listened to music to focus on the game and get ready.

The team played well at the beginning of the match but made some mistakes, allowing Medway to score a point by the first half.

However, Hopkinton did not give up, and eventually evened the score to 1-1 in the second half.

“Aryan Shah and Peter DiMichele both did an excellent job. Peter had 3 assists and kept making crosses across the field, allowing Aryan Shah to score a header. Tora Ito, the captain, also played really well,” field player Vasishta Malisetty said.

Medway scored again, and with just 10 minutes to spare, the score was 2-1. However, after a time out, Hopkinton pulled off a stunning victory and scored 2 more points, winning the game 3-2 in the last few minutes of the game.

“We did not want to concede to a team we beat before, so we attacked very aggressively, repeatedly pressuring the defense and creating chances to score. We hustled harder than the other team, and on one of our counter-attacks, the striker, Sean, scored with 5 minutes to go,” Malisetty said.

Coach Sawyer believes the key to their success is physical and mental fortitude, saying, “The most difficult part of the game was to play hard for the full length of the match, and play at your best for the whole 80 minutes, remaining physically and mentally strong.”

When asked about the team’s greatest strengths, Sawyer said, “We have lots of strengths as a team, not one particular one. We have excellent passing skills and excellent team speed, as well as communication.” 

Going forward, the team’s long-term goal is to keep improving and building relationships with each other.

 “We’re going to always remain strong and focus on getting ready for the next game. That means learning from our previous mistakes and scouting teams that we will be playing in the future in order to form a strategy,” Sawyer said.

Hopkinton Varsity Boys’ Soccer is now 4th in power rankings, with a record of 9-2.

Their next game will be at 6:00 this evening at Medfield High School.

“We hope to play in the league championship and also do well in the state tournament,” Satishkumar said.