By Michael Rosa and Samuel Lian

Staff Writers

The Hammond Boys Soccer team played their first playoff game of the 2022 season against Poolesville. Poolesville is a Montgomery county school that went away to Hammond High. Before kickoff Hammond had a record of 4 wins, 1 draw, and 7 defeats. Poolesville had a record of 1 win, 1 draw, and 10 defeats respectively. Kickoff was at 5:30 eastern time. The game seemed like it was going Poolesville’s way as they took the lead, Hammond kept missing opportunities to draw the game. 

“We had a chance to score but the ref called offside, from there I thought the game was over, but Diego came on and scored”. Daniel Adeyokunnu is a senior playing his final year of high school soccer. Hammond found their goal and that took the game into overtime. A beautiful run through from Diego, very nice finish at the bottom right of the net.

Junior Eliot O’Neil scored the winner in overtime, a beautiful strike right outside the box. Eliot’s goal was enough for Hammond as the young squad won 2-1. “ Playoffs are do or die, you could go undefeated all league season, first round of playoffs and you lose, you’re out. Playoffs is a whole different ball game”. Coach Eliot Quinteros is proud of his players for improving in the league season and winning a very surprising difficult win over Poolesville. The Golden Bears would then go on to play Glenelg away.  

After a hard fought battle the Hammond Boys Soccer team lost to regional favorites, Glenelg, with a 1-0 score-line during the second round of the playoffs. Although this loss proved their postseason run over, the team still had their heads up high after the game.

Glenelg was a tough challenge for Hammond. During the season, the team unfortunately lost to them, conceding just three goals. Going into the game empty handed was not an option for the Golden Bears. Senior Captain Diego Carino said, “Going to playing Glenelg, I knew it was going to be a challenging game… they beat us in the regular season, but we were going to give them a tough game… we knew that we were more prepared for this game and ended up giving them a long tough game.”

“Have fun, because the season will go by so fast and you have to enjoy every moment. Although it is important to enjoy the season, you must be able to be productive in the process. It is easy to get off track and will take a toll on you and the team.” said Diego on playing his last game for Hammond, “On a team, everyone has to play defense and offense… it’s crucial for a player to know when it’s time to switch from offense and be diligent on defense.”

Freshman Bernard Vai had this to say when asked about their playoff exit. “This game, as well as Poolesville, we showed that we can win and that we can play. With more effort and attention to the sport, I believe Hammond can win even more games.”

With a wrap to their season, many of the players are looking forward to what they can achieve next season.