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On Wednesday, October 23rd, the men’s varsity soccer team captured a victory against the Legacy Longhorns with a score of 8-0. Palo went into the game with the goal to win and make the seniors’ last home game a memorable one.

The game started off with a kickoff led by seniors Rick Gray and Alexandar Stodick. Palo was first to score a goal with Gregory Cook heading the ball into the goal, giving the Panthers the energy to work even harder.

After battling for the ball with the Longhorns, Cook managed to pass the ball to Gray for an assisted goal. The Panthers continued to dominate the Longhorns with seniors Luke McGee and team captain Antonio Gomez both scoring a goal ending the first half with a score of 4-0.

“Going into this game, I knew it was going to be the last time I play at home, so I needed to play the best I could,” McGee said.

The Panthers returned to the second half of the game filled with energy and determination to do their best. Gomez started the half out strong as he scored his second goal of the game. Despite Legacy fighting as hard as they could, Gomez was able to pass the ball to Elad Cohen, who scored another goal making the score 6-0.

“It felt very good, and I was happy to know we were going out strong for our senior night. I will miss all of the friendships that I’ve made with this squad,” Gomez said.

The intensity of the game only grew when a Longhorn accidentally tripped Timothy Stephens giving the Panthers a penalty shot. Sebastean Franco took the penalty shot and scored another goal.

Not long after, McGee passed the ball to Cohen who kicked it towards the net only for a Longhorn to block his shot, but Cohen didn’t give up. He shot again on the goal and made the last goal of the game, ending it with the final score of 8-0.

The Panthers definitely made the seniors’ last home game one they’ll never forget and this win gave them the confidence they needed as they enter the playoffs.

The team plans on working even harder at practice and in their future games to end the season on a high note.

“Going into the game knowing it was my last home game was a mix of very exciting and also very sad. Looking back at all the great things my team and I have accomplished and the person I have developed into reminds me how much I’m going to miss this team,” said Tyler Olenak.