The last time these teams met, Taft ran out 2-0 winners at home. Away, however, on a chilly fall afternoon, it was a closer affair. After a slow start, the Rhinos started working their passes together with precision, creating numerous chances but not putting any of them away. That changed in the 20th minute, when Kotaro Wato controlled an inviting pass from Noah Cinel and expertly finished past the Avon goalkeeper. Taft kept control for the remainder of the half, until a strong counterattack from Avon led to an unfortunate Taft handball on the edge of the box. The resulting freekick—a low shot to the left—found its way past the wall and beyond the despairing dive of goalie Julian Prentiss. With only two minutes left until half-time Taft tried valiantly to restore their lead, but went into the break with the scores level. At the start of the 2nd half, and with renewed focus, Taft again worked the ball well to one another and created chance after chance. They capitalized in the 21st minute when a James Cooper corner was headed home powerfully by defender Brendan Staines. With their lead restored, Taft slowed down the game and kept possession. A rare breakaway from Avon needed an outstanding sliding tackle interception from Nero Maung but, for the most part, the Taft defense dealt with any further attacks. Then, with only 2 minutes left in the game, Avon won a free-kick on the halfway line. They moved the ball up quickly and precisely to their forward whose delicate touch put the ball beyond keeper Jack Easton, who had no chance of preventing the goal. With hardly any time left to react, it appeared that Avon had snatched a draw. But this JV team have huge heart and, instead of feeling sorry for themselves, pushed for victory. After playing the ball out expertly from defense, an inch-perfect through-ball was won by the marauding Cayden Parsons, who sprinted towards goal with the ball at his feet and then, from the edge of the box, found the back of the net with an unstoppable shot into the top-right corner. Taft had restored their lead with just 25 seconds left on the clock. Despite lining up nine players on the halfway line and going all out on attack from the kickoff, Avon had the ball taken off them by Taft who passed around with confidence, took the ball to the opposition corner, and held on for the final whistle. A wonderful, dramatic victory! The coaches are proud of the boys’ tenacity, courage, hard work, and self-belief. We now turn our focus to facing Williston Northampton at home Saturday on family weekend.