The Brave’s Men’s Soccer team took on Lakeside and Garfield this week, unfortunately coming away with two losses against two of the best teams in the Metro League.

In the first game of the week against Lakeside, the Braves showed a lapse in form, losing 5-0. The team was not working together as well as they had in the past games and were unable to hold possession of the ball long enough to get many chances on goal. Two senior defenders, Jack Deane and Matty Campbell, were both sick, which meant the defense didn’t have enough substitutions to have enough energy throughout the game. Senior Lukas Delen was also still out with his ankle injury. Even with the defensive problems, the other positions were unable to compete with the strong Lakeside team.

“We have to work together and communicate more,” said Eli Sherwood. “We just weren’t playing like ourselves this game.”

On Friday, the Braves took on Garfield at home. The game started out close, with the Braves only down 1-0 at half time. Right after the half, Junior McCoy Hennes scored a header off of a free kick, evening the game. Garfield ended up taking control of the rest of the game and scoring two more goals, leading to a final score of 3-1. It was an impressive effort for the Braves, especially considering their continuous issues with sickness and injury.

“We probably could have won if we had Lukas (Delen) and Sam (Peerce),” said Junior Liam Tracey. “We got tired at the end and couldn’t keep up with them.”

There are still four games left in the season for the Braves to improve their record. Inconsistency has been the main problem for the team this season. They have showed their strength in many games this season, but injury, sickness, and poor team chemistry have prevented them from reaching their true potential.

“We’ve gotten unlucky with how many players we’ve had out,” said Junior Sebastian Grillo. “I feel pretty confident we can win the rest of our games and end with a solid record.”

The Braves will be practicing hard and hoping to set themselves up for success in these last few games.