by Benjy Bral (’18)
On Monday, March 6th, the MTA Lions opened their season with a home match against the SAR Sting. It was the Lions’ first match of their eight game season, against the team who had just gone to the championships the previous year. Going into the game, SAR had never lost to MTA since the creation of the soccer league. On top of that, the Lions were missing their projected starter Hudy Weiss (’19), key contributor Ariel Dubizh (’17), and fifth man Benjy Bral (’18) was playing through a high ankle sprain. Be that as it may, MTA started the game strong and ended the first quarter with a 3-1 lead, but a quick run by SAR had tied the game 5-5 at the half. Even so, MTA felt good. They had won time of possession and had limited SAR’s shots. They came out of the half confident in their ability to seal the deal, yet SAR came in with a fire that wasn’t seen in the first half. Feinburg, SAR’s star player, scored three goals from the kickoff, and, at one point, the Sting were up 8-6. However, the Lions then started to score. They went on a 5-0 run, including 3 goals in five minutes, to seal their historic victory. It was a badly needed win for a team that hopes to win the title this year. Mark Giahn (’17), Daniel Libesman (’18), Ariel Feuerstein (’17), Zach Stein (’17), and Nachi Piltz (’18) all scored. The Lions are now 1-0 on the season, with their next match on Monday, March 13, at Ramaz.
