Tuesday evening the Fairmont Firebirds Men's Soccer team traveled to GWOC rival Northmont High
School for another tough GWOC battle.

The Thunderbolts raced to a 1-0 lead in the second minute, but the Birds calmed their nerves
and settled into a steady attack in search for an equalizer. In the tenth minute, Dane Herman forced a
save from the Bolts’ keeper at the right post. Three minutes later Azariyah Nsabimana saw his shot
saved at the left post. Fairmont found its equalizer in the eighteenth minute when Nassim Hennaoui
found Christian Valdez free at the top of the penalty area and the junior midfielder rifling his shot into the top right corner. Midfielder Gavin Weaver was a force throughout the game, controlling the pace and setting the rhythm of the attack. The hosts’ frustration was evident as their only way to halt his attack was scything him down from behind. Weaver nearly put the Birds ahead in the twenty-first
minute with a 30-yard missile that smashed off the crossbar, and another shot that missed outside the right post. Against the run of play, Thunderbolts senior forward Chris Powell put the hosts ahead again with his second goal of the half. That lead was short-lived as Mugisha Aimable found Weaver free outside the penalty area and his left-footed blast fizzing past the keeper’s outstretched hand. Aaron Black had a goal saving header off the line in the thirty-sixth minute, and the teams went into halftime level at two goals apiece.

The Birds grabbed their first lead of the game in the forty-second minute when Herman played a ball
into Weaver from the left side of the penalty area, whose shot headed toward goal but was tucked away by Nsabimana. The lead was short-lived when the Birds made a mistake defending a throw-in and the Bolts tied the match in the fifty-second minute. Powell completed his hat trick minutes later to restore the hosts’ lead, but it was nearly wiped away by a Weaver freekick in the fifty-eighth minute that was saved by the keeper. Graf was played through in the sixty-ninth minute with only the keeper to beat but his shot was straight at the goalie.

Weaver notched his second assist of the night with a corner kick in the seventy-second minute that Tresor Shaka blasted into the net. Fairmont continued its assault on the hosts with another Weaver freekick that just missed over the bar from twenty-five yards and a Noah Baumgarten shot that also went over. The Birds’ tenacity finally paid off after three consecutive corner kicks in the seventy-sixth minute. Weaver sent his final cross into a scrum of players in the box and Aimable touched the ball to Herman who smashed the ball into the net for a 5-4 lead.

Unfortunately, the lead was short-lived as Northmont found an equalizer with two minutes to play.
The ten-goal thriller was every bit of a roller coaster for the teams and fans. The tie brings Fairmont’s
record to 6-4-3.

Fairmont will continue its pursuit of a seventh win this Saturday, October 3rd when it hosts the Patriots of Archbishop Carroll High School. Carroll enters the match 12-0-1 and ranked #1 in the state for Division 3. JV kickoff is at 1:00 p.m. and Varsity at 3:00 p.m. Go Birds!