Old friends met on Friday, August 30th, when RJ Reynolds JV boys’ soccer went to Summit School to face off against the Summit Eagles. Many current RJR students who once attended Summit, showed up to support familiar faces on both teams. 

As soon as the game began, the RJR Demons were off to a great start scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes. Sophomore Hayden Stoter scored the first goal which was quickly followed by Amoni Mkali. The Eagles were determined and matched Reynolds’ intense pressure. Landon Fitzgerald scored Summit’s first goal. 

After this minor setback, the Demons were able to break Summit’s line of defense. Emannuel Nsabimana scored Reynolds’ third goal of the match to end the half with a score of 3-1. The Eagles were eager to come back and play hard the next half.

The Demons made a strong return at the beginning of the second half scoring two quick goals from Carlos Moradel and Amani Mkali. The score hurt Summit’s confidence but that quickly changed when the Eagles’ offense drew a penalty kick. 

Jake Winslow lined up to take the Eagles’ penalty. The ball was kicked and Robert Kluttz, the RJR keeper, saved the shot. The ball was rebounded out into the six-yard box letting Summit have a second chance at goal but the shot was saved by Kluttz. In the process, Kluttz was injured and Daniel Kane took his place in goal for the Demons.

RJR recovered from this loss with a goal from Josef Pastrana to make the game 6-1. Then game took a turn for the worse. Summit took the opportunity and managed to make their way back into the game scoring three consecutive goals from Walt Peterson and Fitzgerald, both of whom have older brothers on the RJR varsity soccer team. Reynolds took the win with a final score of 6-4.

“As a whole we worked together pretty well,” sophomore Daniel Kane said. “We pulled through toward the end, it got a little dicey toward the end when Robert got his injury.”

Kane played well during his time as keeper regardless of the outcome and managed to keep his team motivated until the end.    

“Did they make a few mistakes, yeah,” Coach Toni Sabio said. “But it’s more about what they did well.”

The match was positive overall for the Demons. This game will help them fix things that need fixing, improve on the small things and working better as a team.