In a tense atmosphere Sept. 27, the Sussex Academy boys’ soccer team suffered its first loss of the season when St. Andrew’s won last year’s championship game rematch 3-1.

“It's tough to travel the distance and to play a team on their Homecoming weekend; the environment is big for them, they're excited,” said coach R.J. Dina. “It was a great game through about 60 minutes.”

The Saints struck first with about five minutes to play in the first half. The Seahawks fought hard to earn some chances in the closing moments of the opening 40 minutes. With the clock frozen at 2:00, Sussex Academy earned a penalty kick that was converted by captain George Sapna to reset the game at halftime.

A little over 20 minutes had gone by in the second half when St. Andrew’s took the lead from what appeared to be an offside position. The Saints removed any doubt over the result when they tallied the insurance goal and watched the time run out on their 3-1 victory. It was clear how much the game meant to St. Andrew’s.

“[Coach] Ben Horgan is a tremendous asset to Delaware soccer; he was quite the player in college, and earlier than that,” Dina said. “They're well coached, they're organized, the kids are smart and kudos to the goalkeeper – he was the best player on the field by far.” 

Liam Wilson was between the sticks for St. Andrew’s, and it was hard to point out any one shot that preserved the Saints’ lead. In the first half, there were a few corners punched away and set pieces where rebounds went right to the keeper. Wilson’s aggressiveness in the second half cut down angles on a few attempts.

Sussex Academy soccer isn’t one for excuses.

“It's up to them. We can prepare them for everything. I'd like to say that we were prepared for today, but a lot of this is about desire. How much do you want to win? How hard are you willing to go? Are you willing to go the full 80? Are you going to give me 65 minutes and then see what happens in the rest of that time,” Dina said. “It's up to these guys if we figure it out from here and bounce back. As a staff, we're going to continue to force the issue, and press and talk about the things that make us successful.” 

Sussex Academy will look to rebound in a three-match week against Delmar, Dover and Newark Charter.

“I got a ton of seniors here that have played a lot of minutes over the last few years,” Dina said. “It's going to be up to them to see who's the leader and how we're going to fare from here on.”