Randolph Boys Soccer defeated Chatham, 2-0, on Senior Night, Saturday, Sept. 20, at DaSilva Field.
Before kickoff, Randolph honored its 11 seniors: RJ Dougherty, Jared Goldschmidt, Sebastian Lesmes, Ben Maderna, Ryan Merkle, Dylan Ramirez, Jake Rubin, Landon Smith, Jacob Soloff, Gavin Vichengrad, and Clayton Ziegler.
“Senior Night is a day of celebration for me and the guys more than anything else,” Rubin said. “Obviously, it’s a bittersweet feeling to know that it is our last year of high school, but I see it as a day to celebrate all the accomplishments and memories we all have shared together over the last four years.”
The Rams started the game with an all-senior lineup and battled through a hard-fought first half against the Cougars. Goalkeeper Vichengrad kept the game scoreless at halftime with several key saves.
Randolph controlled possession early in the second half and finally broke through as junior Julian Hernandez got in behind the defense on a breakaway. His shot was saved, but Smith was in the right spot to put away the rebound, giving the Rams a 1-0 lead.
Ten minutes later, Smith crossed the ball in, and junior Andrei Nitulescu headed it in for his team-leading 10th goal of the season, sealing the 2-0 win.
“It felt amazing to come away with a 2-0 win,” Maderna said. “To do it on Senior Night made it even more special”
“It felt great to get this win to reward the seniors for all their hard work and dedication,” sophomore Luka Madjor added.
With the victory, Randolph improved to 5-2 and will look to continue its strong start on Monday, Sept. 22, against Roxbury.
