The Firebirds opened their 2026 GWOC schedule last night at Fairmont Park Stadium hosting the
Warriors of Wayne High School. From the opening whistle, the Birds were immediate and relentless in their attack. Azariyah Nsabimana saw his snapshot saved at the near post in the fourth minute, and four minutes later Aaron Black saw the same result from a Gavin Weaver corner. Senior Trey Shaka continued his domination of the center of the pitch with a relentless hustle and a “that’s my ball punk” spirit that thwarted any possible attack from the visitors.

Fairmont continued to move the ball well and pressed the Warriors’ back five throughout the first
twenty minutes of the game, forcing multiple saves from the Wayne goalkeeper from shots by Freddy Irakoze and Azariyah. In a preview of goals to come, man-of-the match Weaver let loose a shot from the left side of the penalty area that just missed wide of the right post. Fairmont finally broke the deadlock in the twenty-fifth minute when Irakoze stormed down the left side of the Warriors’ box and squared the ball through traffic to Aaron Black who swept the ball past the keeper. The diminutive keeper had six saves in the half and was the Warriors’ best player on the night. The teams went into halftime with the Birds leading 1-0.

The Birds were flying high in the second half and put on a masterclass of finishing. Despite Irakoze and Azariyah forcing the Warriors’ keeper into a double save in the forty-ninth minute, those saves turned out to be the watershed moment of the match. In the fifty-first minute, Luke Davidson sent an inch-perfect pass across the box to Weaver who took one touch and placed the ball into the net. Eight minutes later Azariyah had the ball at his feet facing away from goal, surrounded by defenders near the penalty spot, and sent an audacious backheel toward the left corner of the goal box where sophomore Teddy Combs slotted home at the far post. In the sixty-first minute, a Warrior bulldozed junior Christian Valdez at the top of the box, which set up a free kick for Weaver. Weaver’s curling effort from twenty-eight yards was inch-perfect inside the right post, extending the lead 4-0. Valdez notched his second assist in the sixty-eighth minute, helping senior Owen Graf open his account with a cool finish past the keeper. Weaver sealed his man-of-the-match status one minute later with a rifled shot into the roof of the net following an assist from Davidson. Fairmont continued their assault on the visitors with Graf forcing a save in the seventy-fifth minute and turned provider two minutes later with an assist to Ned Bruzzese who capped the score at 7-0.

Fairmont travels to the Trojans of Troy High School this Thursday, September 3rd with JV kickoff at 5:15p.m. and Varsity kickoff at 7:00 p.m. Go Birds!