Homestead’s boys soccer team gained a point in conference play by finishing with a draw against rival Germantown on Tues., Sept. 8 at Homestead. “This tie gives us one point in conference and gives us confidence for more wins in the conference,” Josh Cooley, senior, said. Senior goalie David Swanson played a big role in the game for the Highlanders, having come up with several key saves. “I played as hard as I could tonight, doing my part for the team so that we could end the game on a good note,” he said.

Germantown took the lead halfway through the first half in the 27th minute of the game. Swanson felt that the goal was his fault and that he let his team down. “There were a ton of shots and I had about ten saves, but hey, maybe I could’ve had one more [save] if I read the play right,” said Swanson.

The two teams battled for the rest of the half, but the Highlanders could not put up a goal before the whistle blew for halftime. The second half started the same way, a very close match. In the 58th minute, Will Buenz, junior, put it past the Germantown goalkeeper to tie up the score.

“It felt great being the only scorer tonight. I was just happy I could help my team out in the way I did,” Buenz said. The team feels like they played a pretty good game and they think they can keep it going. “I really thought the team played well tonight; we had much better communication and grit than in previous games,” Buenz said.

“The team played as a whole instead of being greedy. We also communicated well and worked hard for every ball,” Swanson said. However, the boys think they have things to improve on for their future games. “We can work on connecting passes and getting more goals,” Swanson said.

Cooley felt the same way. “We really have to work on finishing the chances that we are creating so that we can win more games. We can also work on connecting more passes in the middle and attacking by switching the field,” he said.

The team thinks this game gave them a lot of motivation to get better and play harder for the rest of the season. “A tie isn’t what we strive for, but a come-from-behind tie certainly beats a loss,” Buenz said.