The Milbridge Tigers played their first away game of the season against their Narraguagus River Rivals, The Cherryfield Lions on September 25th. A compressed soccer pitch & a few absent players resulted in this game being played in a 9 versus 9 format.
Captained by three-year starter Burren Absalom in his formidable role at sweeper, the Tigers shut out the Lions in the first half by a score of 6-0. The first half was highlighted by a couple fantastic Hayden Lovejoy saves, as well as two goals scored off of corner kicks. Jose Paniagua Ortiz, with his mighty left foot, dropped in a corner to Braydin Kennedy, who finished strong for the game's third goal (3-0), and then once again with Burren cleaning up a loose ball in the box to make the most of his offensive opportunity to bring Milbridge up 5-0.
Perhaps the goal of the season thus far for the Tigers came towards the end of the half when Jose crossed a ball into the box from the left side, Ryan Pantoja Medina played it off his chest to Braydin who one-touched the ball into the net in one very smooth play. Aside from assisting his teammates, Jose scored two goals of his own in the half, and was involved in five of the six goal scoring opportunities. For this, he took home the Player of the Match award with 2 goals and 3 assists in only 30 minutes of play. Ryan also scored in the first half.
The second half saw many substitutions, and Cherryfield were able to put 3 goals on the board as #5, #3, and #9 all found the back of the net. However, the Tigers kept their lead as Edgar Paniagua Ortiz scored off a beautiful Burren throw-in; Edgar also scored later in the game as he dribbled half way down the field for the finish. Also adding to the scoresheet for the Tigers was Hayden bringing in his first goal of the season. The Milbridge goalkeeper absolutely loves to join in on the forward attack when he is relieved of his goalkeeping duties. Hayden, Anthony Castro, Burren, and his brother Sylas Absalom all played complete games for the Tigers. The final score of the game after 60 minutes of play was Milbridge - 9, and Cherryfield - 3.