Republic’s ten seniors won’t soon forget their Senior Night. If they don’t remember the pregame honors, they’ll remember the 20-mile-an-hour winds, the torrential rain, and the wind chill in the 30s. And even if those details fade, they’ll remember how it ended—when Will Pinnell slid the ball past the Parkview goalkeeper as the clock hit zero to give Republic a 1–0 victory. It was a wild finish to a match played in miserable conditions.
“It was a really, really, really bad night to play,” Pinnell said. “The weather—I don’t think it could have possibly been worse. But we fought all game. I feel like we really dominated our attack. We just didn’t finish until the end.”
That finish came in the final seconds, when Isaac Vermule played a ball into Pinnell near the top of the box. “The ball skipped off the turf—it was wet, it skipped off. I don’t think they thought it was getting to me,” Pinnell said. “Fell right to my feet. I cut back across, shot it, and it went right under the goalie’s hands.”
Before the match, Republic recognized its ten seniors: Rohan Barre, Eastyn Daniel, Mason Makoski, Leighton Perez, William Pinnell, James Robbins, Sam Richardson, Luigi Spiridon, Mason Tackett, and Isaac Vermule.
Coach Jesus Zuniga said the emotional night reflected what this senior group has meant to the program. “This may have been the first match I’ve seen where the emotions were there before the game, where you could see them swallowing and just breathing hard. I told them it’s going to be an emotional game—we knew it would be,” he said.
Zuniga said the way Republic won was fitting for this team. “Let’s be real—the way that game ended, that’s been how our season’s been all season long. We fight till the end. They found a way.”
This year’s seniors were freshmen when Zuniga took over the soccer program. He credited the group for changing the direction of the program. “They want to turn this program around,” Zuniga said. “And I think they’re doing it game by game, half by half.”
The win wrapped up the regular season for Republic with a 12–13 record. They are 11–3 since turning things around after a 1–10 start. They will host Branson at noon in the district quarterfinals on Saturday. The two teams split their earlier two meetings.
