On Oct. 29 at Franklin High School, Allied Soccer teams from Baltimore County competed at the 24 annual Pumpkin Bowl. The Pumpkin Bowl is a celebration of the end of the Allied Soccer season. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., teams played a round robin tournament. Each game was twenty minutes and each team played either three or four games. The teams that competed were: Dulaney, Landsdown, Catonsville, New Town, Ownings Mills, Woodlawn, Chestertown, Dundalk, and Perry Hall.
The Hereford team continued their winning streak at the Pumpkin Bowl, finishing the year with no loses, and only one tie.
“The team has played really good so far, we have a bunch of new players this year. Andy Hicks (’22) and Nate Gravel (’22) have both had hat tricks, Jason Hilliard (’22) has scored four goals over the season, and Willow Powers has been tremendous on defense,” Head Coach Jim Rhoads said.
The team started off with a bang, winning their first game 1-0 against Dundalk. Brynne Powers (’20), a new addition to the team this year, scored the winning goal with 3 minutes left in the game. The team went on to play Perry Hall, Dulaney, and Kenwood. They ended the night with three wins and one tie to Dulaney. Willow Powers (’20), Nate Gravel (’22), Russel Stevenson (’20) and Collin Mohelski (’20) also scored a goal.
However, the focus of the team isn’t on winning, it’s all about having fun while playing good soccer. Allied soccer provides a chance for students to be active, while still providing healthy competition.
“The feeling of helping other players have fun and score a point is so much better than scoring a point yourself,” Powers said. “We try to be fair to other teams; we are all equal and are just trying to have some fun while playing soccer.”
An annual tradition of the Allied team is to come up with unique nicknames for each player. Some examples are: Collin “The Terminator” Mohelski, Lexi “Dyno- Mite” Koogle, Kaylin “Hurricane” Bending, and Jason “Bone Crusher” Hilliard.
Team Captain Russel Stevenson said, “We find that all the teams are very kind and accepting and even if they lose they’re very nice about it and aren’t super angry.”