Last night the Fairmont Men’s Soccer Team recognized its outgoing senior class with a visit from the
Wildcats of Springfield High School. The Birds scored their first goal in the sixth minute when Tresor
Shaka won the ball at midfield and slipped a through ball to Freddy Irakoze who faked the keeper left and rolled the ball into the net. Before the fans could settle back into their seats, Owen Graf found the ball in the left channel and sent a cross through the box that Jaxen Overfield slotted past the keeper. Irakoze notched his second of four goals on the night in the twelfth minute courtesy of a pass from Aaron Black. Senior Ben Johnson was called into action in the fourteenth minute with a save at his near post, which turned into a swift counterattack by Nassim Hennaoui and an assist on Irakoze’s third goal. In the seventeenth minute, Irakoze turned from goal scorer to goal provider when he delivered a pass to Gavin Weaver’s first of a brace on the night. Senior Florent Zam was on the prowl for his first varsity goal and nearly grabbed it in the twenty-second minute with a low, powerful shot that the keeper parried away with his left hand. The Birds’ sixth goal came in the twenty-sixth minute when Cristian Valdez played a ball to Mordecai Kesner that the senior blasted past the keeper. One minute later, Weaver took the Birds’ first half tally to seven with a twenty-yard free kick from the top of the box into the right-side netting following a foul on Cristian Valdez. Johnson was called to action again in the thirty-first minute, saving a free kick from the right corner of the penalty area. The Wildcats’ lone goal on the night was a solo effort from their crafty, diminutive forward who beat three defenders and squeezed his shot inside
the right post. Fairmont retired to halftime with a comfortable 7-1 lead.

In the second half, Fairmont continued its attack and but for several offsides calls, could have heaped at least a handful of goals to their tally. Irakoze continued his fine form from the first half and set up Flo for his first varsity goal in the forty-seventh minute. Johnson had another save in the fifty-first minute, and Springfield earned a couple corners that were cleared by the Birds’ defense. Man-of-the-match Irakoze completed the route in the sixty-seventh minute with his fourth goal of the night from an assist by Weaver.

The win takes Fairmont’s record to 7-5-3 and looks to finish its GWOC schedule with a win against the
Vikings of Miamisburg on Tuesday, October 13th at Miamisburg High School. JV kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. and Varsity kickoff is at 7:15 p.m. Go Birds!