FAIRBORN - On Wednesday, the Fairmont Men's Soccer Team played in their second consecutive Regional Semi-Final. Fairmont hosted the Walnut Hills Eagles in the final regular season game with a resounding 4-0 victory. Last night the program’s five pillars – grit, joy, family, integrity, and competition – were on full display and it took a collective effort from the starters, to the next-man-up substitutes, to the rowdy reserves to crystallize the belief that this game belonged to the Birds and they would claim victory. The Eagles found rhythm early and enjoyed the better part of the attack through the first thirteen minutes, earning two corners and two free kicks outside the penalty area. Fairmont’s grit kicked in and in the fifteenth minute Gavin Weaver found space at the top of the box but scuffed his shot past the left post. In the twenty-third minute Freddy Irakoze connected on a header, but he missed over the crossbar. Azariyah Nsabimana was dangerous throughout the game and tore his defenders apart, getting behind with aplomb. Several times the defenders resorted to simply cutting the midfielder down and conceding the foul. In the thirty-fourth minute the Eagles took the lead with a well-executed corner kick, and other than two unsuccessful freekicks by the Birds, the teams went into halftime with the Birds trailing 0-1.

Fairmont attacked with more conviction in the second half, and Irakoze nearly levelled in the forty-first minute, but his shot hit the side netting. Three minutes later he squared a pass from the right channel into the box that was begging for a teammate to finish, but no one was home. The Birds’ back line of Luke Davidson, Mordecai Kesner, Emmett Duselis, Noah Baumgarten, and Teddy Combs were solid in defense and swarmed to the ball each time there was a hint of danger from the Eagles. That security blanket allowed creativity and inventiveness for the midfielders to attack and get into the box. It all paid off in the sixty-third minute when Azariyah broke into the penalty area and was scythed down by his defender. Weaver stepped up to the spot, and with ice in his veins, buried the ball into the right side of the net. Game on!

But seemingly out of nowhere, the Eagles reclaimed the lead in the sixty-seventh minute following a
great save by Carson Dewald that fell to the opponent for a tap-in. The Bird Boys were nonplussed and stuck with their relentless attack in search for the equalizer. That moment arrived in the seventy-sixth minute when Tresor Shaka found Aaron Black in the middle of the pitch with nary a defender within fifteen yards. The senior let loose a cannon from thirty yards that curled into the left post beyond the outstretched glove of the keeper. Game on, again!

Fairmont sensed fear in their opponent and immediately pressed the kickoff. A turnover outside the
Eagles’ penalty area found Owen Graf with the ball at his feet. The senior forward found Irakoze in the box, and the forward’s speed around the pressing defender opened an angle for him to slip the ball past the goalie for the 3-2 victory. Pandemonium. Jubilation. Brotherhood. Game over!

The Firebirds play St. Xavier High School in the Southwest Regional Final this Sunday, November 8th at 2:00 p.m. at Bishop Fenwick High School. Go Birds!