Jesuit Men’s Soccer Defeats Central Catholic 5-2

The Jesuit men’s soccer team took on the Central Catholic Rams on September 3rd for their first match of the season at Cronin Field. The Crusaders pulled off a thrilling victory with the score being 5-2.

Throughout the first half, the Crusaders were taking control early on, keeping possession. When the game reached its first 10 minutes, the Crusaders received a penalty due to a tackle from a corner kick made on defender Carlos Botiva ‘26. With the team on his back, Grant Sasaki ‘25 smashed the penalty into the bottom right corner, giving the Saders their first goal of the season.

The first half ended with the score staying 1-0.

Diego Nieves ‘25 sparked the Crusaders in the second when he scored a shot that dribbled past the keeper from outside the 18 yard box after cutting through three defenders. Even after Nieves’s goal, their offense continued to dominate with a spectacular individual goal by Vala Saghafi ‘27.

As the second half progressed, the Rams were not going to leave without a fight. Central Catholic scored one goal in the 50th minute through a banger from outside the box, and also scored a header from a corner in the 72nd minute. The two goals left the home side a little stressed only up 3-2, but fortunately they responded with their own two goals.

In the 75th minute, Griffin Nagy ‘26 also scored off a corner to expand Jesuit’s lead. Two minutes later, Jesuit kept possession of the ball, and Saghafi scored yet again after receiving a beautiful through ball in the air by Luc Schmidt ‘26.

Jesuit finished off the game strong, scoring 5 goals and maintaining their winning position. They now turn their focus towards the Summit Storm this Friday September 6th, and hope to continue a winning streak for the rest of the season.