Freshman Alexis Kushner takes a throw-in against Beacon at Randall’s Island on Sunday, September 23.

Coming off a 4-0 loss against the Fiorello H. LaGuardia Athletics, the Stuyvesant Mimbas entered their matchup against the Hunter Hawks on Friday, September 14 with a new game strategy in mind.  The Mimbas refer to it as “the first five minutes,” which is when the team comes out with their best play at the start of each half, in order to set the tone for the rest of that half.  The evenly matched teams played a hard-fought game, but the Mimbas eventually came up short, with the game concluding in a 4-2 loss.

The Mimbas were able to stick to their strategy for the first 20 minutes of the game, drawing first blood with a goal by junior Rosalie Campbell.“It was really rewarding because the goal was off a free kick, and we had gotten basically the same free kick earlier [in the game] and I missed that one, so it was really great to get the opportunity again and score,” Campbell said.

However, after the Mimbas captured the early lead, the team lost sight of the tone they had worked so hard to set and saw two Hawk goals before the end of the half.  The disappointment at the end of the half culminated in Campbell’s being taken out with an injury to her ankle received from a chip under her shin guard from a Hawks defender.  The entire feel of the game changed as the team looked on while their injured teammate was carried off the field by Athletic Director Larry Barth.
During half-time, coach Hugh Francis reminded his team about the strategy they needed to follow. “They’re giving us a good game,” he said. “I think this is a team we can come back and beat.”

At the start of the second half, the Mimbas fell behind early by surrendering possession to the Hawks several times and letting them take too many shots on goal. The Hawks were able to put two more goals on the board before the Mimbas answered with a goal by senior Kelsey Bernal.

Though the Mimbas were not able to pull off a comeback grand enough to win the game, their spirits were not dampened. “I think we played really hard the whole game, and never gave up, even when we were behind,” junior Raquel Brau-Diaz said. “We can just use this as a stepping stone to figure out what we have to work on to come back next time and win.”