On a cold, rainy evening, Richard Montgomery’s girls varsity soccer team suffered a tough loss to the Walt Whitman Vikings. The final score was 0-6.

The game, originally scheduled for Wednesday, September 28, was postponed until Friday because of poor weather. The weather carried over to Friday, though, and it was windy and drizzling throughout the game.

Senior captain Hannah Greco was absent due to illness, leaving the other captain, senior Sonia Postolache, to lead the team.

It was a difficult start for the Rockets. Just three minutes into the game, a Whitman player dribbled past several players and slotted the ball past goalkeeper junior Chloe Shankle, scoring Whitman’s first goal.

Two minutes later, a Whitman shot was deflected by an RM player, resulting in a corner kick for the Vikings. The ball sailed into the penalty box, where a Whitman player headed it into the goal.

Although RM was losing morale, Coach Monica Tarzy was vocal on the sidelines, shouting encouraging statements to keep the girls fighting.

And it worked. In the eleventh minute, junior Katya Morsli had the first shot for the Rockets. She followed that up with a second shot a few minutes later, and won the first corner kick for RM.

The ball was cleared from Whitman’s goal box, but senior Mackenzie Harwood got possession of the ball and dribbled down the sideline, eventually gaining another corner.

The game began to get more contentious in the ensuing minutes. For fifteen minutes, the teams battled, trading possession and keeping the ball around midfield.

Twenty-eight minutes into the half, though, another Whitman corner led to another Whitman goal.

The Rockets refused to give up. Postolache and sophomore Delaney Goetz both had good shots on goal. Sophomore Linn Barthelemy had a good run too, after she intercepted the ball from a Whitman throw-in and dribbled down the field, but her shot went wide.

Unfortunately, with five minutes left in the first half, Whitman gained a free kick. The ball wasn’t cleared well enough from RM’s goal box, and Whitman scored a fourth goal.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats when, in the last minute of the half, junior Kate Schuck dribbled down the sideline and crossed the ball to Goetz in the Whitman penalty box. Goetz controlled it and passed the ball off to junior Sue Lee, but Lee’s shot was unluckily blocked by a Whitman defender.

The Rockets went into halftime with a four goal deficit, but they came out in the second half determined to do better.

Four minutes in, senior Daisy Grant had the first shot of the half. Whitman countered a few minutes later with their own shot, but it went sailing over the crossbar and into the tennis courts.

The first ten minutes of the half were even between the two teams, but thirteen minutes in, the Vikings crossed the ball in from the left side and scored.

Then, Whitman began to dominate, sending shot after shot towards the RM goal and keeping the ball in the Rockets’ half of the field.

Fifteen minutes before the end of the game, Whitman scored their sixth and last goal.

The Rockets, to their credit, still tried to score. Goetz had another shot, and with eight minutes left, freshman Kyra Wisneski took the ball from a Whitman player. Freshman Abbey Geary got the ball and crossed it into the Whitman goal box. Although nothing resulted, it reflected RM’s fighting spirit.

With one minute left, Richard Montgomery had their best chance of the game by far. A through ball put Goetz clear on goal, with the nearest Whitman defender several yards behind her.

The Vikings goalkeeper came out, and Goetz shot the ball past her. However, with the luck that the Rockets had been having, the ball ricocheted off the goal post, missing the net by inches.

When the referee blew the whistle, the glaring red numbers on the scoreboard showed Whitman with six goals and Richard Montgomery with zero.

The Rockets will be looking to get back to their winning ways on Tuesday, October 4, when they go to Walter Johnson to play the Wildcats.

Featured photo by Ayesha Khawaja.