Finley Boys’ Soccer Teams Square Off

The highly anticipated game between J. Taylor Finley Middle School’s two boys’ soccer teams proved worthy of its billing as the squads battled it out on Woodhull Intermediate School’s lower athletic field on a recent gorgeous fall afternoon.

The teams are distinguished by the district’s colors: blue and white, with Finley-Blue coached by high school physical education teacher Alex Nelson and Finley-White led by Finley physical education teacher Travis Smith, who played for Huntington High School during his scholastic years.

Both teams came into the game undefeated and both feature rosters of talented players. The two teams practice together every afternoon, taking a bus from Finley to Woodhull. So everyone gets along well, including the two coaches.

But while the teams are collegial and cordial, they are also competitive seventh and eighth graders, so when they stepped onto the field they played to win.

Smith’s Finley-White squad led for a good portion of the game, but Nelson’s Finley-Blue team rallied for a 3-2 victory. Players on both teams didn’t want the game to end. Although there was a winner after regulation ended, the players would have been perfectly happy to play overtime.

Eighth grader Massimiliano Terrado led Finley-Blue with a pair of goals. Eighth grader Jesse Perez also scored in the game. Finley-White’s goals were scored by eighth graders Steven Contreras Moreira and Javier Velasquez Mancia.

Once the game wrapped up, players from both teams lined up for the traditional good sportsmanship handshake.