In its second home field appearance, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy's boys' soccer team played visiting Hun School tough, but succumbed 1-0 due to a second-half goal by the Raiders. That gave the Blue Devils an 0-3 mark with a total of one goal scored in the three contests. Still, the defense held up well in last Tuesday's match, especially in comparison with last year's clash with Hun, a 4-0 setback.

Things changed on the offensive end two days later, when SCH traveled to North Jersey to take on another member of the Mid-Atlantic Prep League, Blair Academy. This was not a defensive battle, but the Blue Devils figured out how to finish on the offensive end and overcame the Buccaneers, 4-3, to notch their first win of 2023.

Last fall, Springside Chestnut Hill finished with a 4-3-3 record in Inter-Ac League competition, tying for fourth place with Episcopal Academy. SCH faculty member Brian Zalasky is back for his eighth season as head coach, and assistant Tom Stackhouse has been there even longer, now going into his 12th year. It's year three for fellow assistant Mike Bray, and Jeff McDonald had just joined the staff as goalie coach.

Starting in goal in last Tuesday's game against Hun School was Cole Carberry, a third-year varsity player although still only a sophomore. Only one younger player, freshman Warren Miller, started for the Blue Devils.

The initial 11 also featured seniors Zayd DeVeaux, Abdoul Diallo, Charles Durso, Ryan McManus and Peter Shea, juniors Michael Glennon, Andrew Laudenbach and Anderson Swanger, and sophomore Anthony Trunfio.

The other seniors appearing on the 2023 varsity roster are Ryan Agnew, Jameson Callas, Charles Gerlach, and Juan Jose Hardy. The reserve goalie, junior Connor Brown, is joined by classmates Rob Lamb, Thomas Stratz and Alexander Zeka. The squad includes sophomores John-Ryan Maher, Patrick Donohue and Owen Hackford, and freshmen Giovanni D'Angelo and Lev Eskin.

The managers are senior Ross Prince and Kenneth Vaughan, who both play lacrosse for the Blue Devils in the spring.

In Tuesday's game, the play ranged the length of the field with scoring chances for both sides. The lone goal of the day came on a strong shot by Hun junior Luciano Verduci with 30:44 remaining in the game.

Two days later up at Blair, the Blue Devils discovered the key to the goal cage. The host Bucs scored three times, but SCH kept pace with two markers by Glennon and one by Miller, and then Laudenbach came through with the game-winner. Also encouraging was the fact that every goal was assisted; DeVeaux set up two of them, and Durso and Swanger each earned one assist.