Faith Christian finishes against Church Farm
amarcus@montgomerynews.
com Church Farm School had one chance to claw back from the early 3-0 deficit the Faith Christian boys’ soccer team tagged them with in the opening round of the Class A District One playoffs. It was the Griffin’s C.M. Kim connected in the 38th minute to lift the eighth seed’s spirits.
However the Lions’ junior Dylan Papiernik did not let the Griffins’ grin for long. With two seconds left in the first half the forward found the back of the net for the second time. From that goal on the Lions let the German phrase on the back of their jersey, “Auf wum Sieg”, propel them to a 6-2 win on Wednesday.
“Our center-mid put the ball over the defense and I was coming down the right side,” Papiernik said. “I knew it was close to end of the half, but I did not know there was two seconds.”
“Auf wu Sieg means ‘on to victory’ and is something coach used in Texas where he started coaching and he brought it up here. We live by it.”
Auf wum Sieg is a phrase the Lions have used as motivation ever since coach Ryan Clymer took over the program eight years ago. A lot has changed since Clymer’s early coaching days, including the league they play in during the regular season, but the goal of winning a district title has never changed, and the style the L.F.C. ELions Futbol ClubF conducts itself with carries over each season.
“Some of them have been here before,” Clymer said. “We have played most of the teams and I think the transition into the Bicentennial Athletic League has helped us be more prepared for this.”
The phrases and style of play the Lions stress has allowed them to change from leagues smoothly and enter the postseason as the top seed in Class A. After a close regular season showdown with the Griffins, a 2-1 Lions win, the home team knew they had to take advantage of being home at Alumni Field and finish shots early.
“It was probably our best finishing game this entire year,” Papiernik said. “I feel
feel like we all could have played better, but our shooting was phenomenal. Every now and then we had a good connection and we scored.”
The Lions’ senior Thomas Tydeman went far post for his first goal in the seventh minute of action and scored his second in the 28th minute. Cameron McDonald and Sam Bloxam also added goals in the Lions victory.
“We finished and we finished early,” Clymer said. “When a team can establish that type of lead, especially at home, it is a big deal.
The Lions will face Plumstead Christian in the second round. The Panthers defeated Devon Prep in their opening round matchup 2-1 on Wednesday. The Lions know they will need to be better if they want “Auf wum Sieg” to ring true again.
“Last year we had more talent, but this year we have more heart,” Papiernik said. “In the pre-season we did not know what type of team we had, then we had some big wins early and we have not looked back.”