Tuesday night, boys varsity soccer faced off against their rival team Mountain View (MV) at home for the last time this season. The rivalry ended the previous seasons with one win from each team. After winning the previous game against MV 1-0 in a last minute win, both teams were eager to assert victory.

At kickoff, Forge began their domination, their abundant energy kept them in possession of the ball and minimized shots on their own goal.

Just as the opportunities on goal were getting closer and closer to being finished, Malachi Pitts (‘24) crossed the ball in the 25th minute, resulting in an own goal after it bounced off a MV defender.

“It felt good to finally put the ball in the back of the net. We were all happy to be up,” Pitts said.

This goal only resulted in more drive from the Eagles, who scored once again eight minutes after the first. The second goal was a chip from Pitts that was tapped in by Keith Skudi (‘24), bringing the score to 2-0 at the end of the half. 

In the first minute of the second half, Israel Villatoro (‘25) fouled the opposing striker within the 18, which, after mild hesitation from the referee, resulted in a penalty kick.

Right as MV’s striker shot the ball, keeper Nathan Cox (‘23) dove to the left. The ball drove into the bottom right corner, putting MV on the board 2-1.

In the 20th minute, Forge gave up a cheap foul at half field and with service from MV. The ball flew into the box and bounced around until MV got a shot off behind the keeper. The ball quickly rolled its way to the goal, when Daniel Ndayi (‘24) made a crucial save and snuck in behind to kick it off the goal line.

“I was just thinking that I couldn’t let them score. We needed to win this game,” Ndayi said.

As MV gained momentum, Forge seemed to lose hope. The game started to become more balanced, as both teams maintained the ball and got shots on goal, but the half ended up progressing to MV dominating the field.

With this sudden momentum, MV tied the score during the last ten minutes of the second half.

The game started getting chippy, as both teams were fouled, given cards, and performed cheap tackles.

The tension between the two teams ended up being beneficial for Forge. In the last three minutes of the game, Dalion King (‘25) crossed the ball in the box, and Joe Liebe (‘23) chested it to Pitts, who blasted it down the middle of the goal, scoring the game-winner.

“I could hear the home crowd cheering and celebrating, and the whole team was happy to beat them once again,” Pitts concluded.