It was five years ago, on January 22^nd, 2004—that was the last time the Wilson Bruins had lost a Moore League match, a 3-1 contest with Lakewood.  Since then, they hired a new coach, Jason Kirkwood, who as of yesterday had yet to lose a league contest.  The 61-game unbeaten streak was the fourth-longest in CIF history…until yesterday afternoon, when the Poly Jackrabbits finally got over the hump, using a torrid start and physical defense to fend off the Bruins, and winning 3-2 on their home field.

After the game, coach Kirkwood pointed out that it was bound to happen eventually.  “I mean, Poly led at one point in I believe six out of the nine games we’ve beaten then since I’ve coached here.”   But a relentless, well-conditioned Bruins attack had always been enough to overtake the Poly lead—including the first time the two teams met this season, when Poly got a goal in the eighth minute and looked like they’d win for most of the game, until Wilson scored two goals in the final ten minutes to pull a stunning 2-1 victory.  The Poly lead they had to overcome in that contest, as in the prior five games that the ‘Rabbits led in but ultimately lost, was nothing like the tidal wave unleashed in the first ten minutes of play Tuesday afternoon.

Poly took two corners in the first five minutes of play, and capitalized early on their second try, which Jazmine Rhodes placed perfectly in front of the net, where sophomore Alexis Leyba toed it in for the fast 1-0 lead.  There was some on-field celebration, but for the most part Poly was business-like, no doubt remembering the two teams’ first meeting this season.  Just two minutes later, Allison Whalen sent a ball forward for Megan Brock, who netted it again, to make it 2-0 in the seventh minute.  The ‘Rabbits team was jubilant, but their coach, Teri Collins, shut it down.  “Keep it up!” she yelled.  “It’s not enough!” 

Apparently, her team took it to heart, as Rhodes set up Kasia Johnson, who put in yet another Poly goal, to make it 3-0.  Even against the historically dominant defending national champions, the Poly sideline finally got comfortable, having taken a 3-0 lead on three shots, just ten minutes into the game.  It was such a shocking turn of events that another sportswriter covering the game, who arrived fifteen minutes in, thought we were joking when we told him it was three-nil Poly.

Kirkwood, trying to change the game, pulled his keeper Carly Farris in favor of sophomore Breegan Saller, who kept the net clean for the rest of the game.  It was the Poly defense that stepped up in the first half, though, only letting keeper Corin Villasenor touch the ball twice in the first forty minutes.  Poly’s midfield passing, and the incredible play of Rhodes, who won every fifty-fifty ball in the first half, prevented Wilson from getting many chances, as more and more teachers and players from other teams wandered over to watch the upset-in-the-making.  Wilson caught a break in the 27^th minute when Marissa Wiegelman put a corner right in the Poly box, where Kimberly Albeno was able to head it in, bringing it to 3-1, where it stayed until the half.

The second half was as physical as any half of soccer (and a few halves of football) we’ve seen all season.  Seven players went down with injuries, and four yellow cards were pulled.  That style seemed to favor the Jackrabbits, who corrected the mistakes they made in the previous match—they stayed aggressive and outshot the Bruins.  “They outhustled us,” said Kirkwood.  The physicality of the game was highlighted when Poly’s Allison Whalen collided twice with the keeper Saller in a matter of minutes, the second a one-on-one play that she almost turned into a fourth goal.  Instead it was Wilson, in the 67^th minute, who scored again, when Kaitlin Hellmann sent it through for Emily Dillon, who made it 3-2, with a very long fourteen minutes of game left to play.  

As Poly continued to push, notching twice as many shots in the final twenty minutes of this match as in the final twenty minutes of their first meeting, Wilson continued to get their chances—but none came through.  Most notable was a 79^th minute rush that Villasenor came out to play; she caught the ball perfectly and held it, making almost the exact same play she hadn’t been able to earlier in the season.  Then, when the final whistle blew, the Jackrabbits rushed onto the field, dancing in celebration. 

“There was a swagger in our team today,” said Collins afterward.  “I don’t have to fire this team up, I actually have to fire them down.  I told them, it can’t be just talk.  We felt we beat them on the field in the first round, and today we beat them on the field and the scoreboard.”  She cautioned against thinking too far ahead, though.  “Our eyes are set on the CIF playoffs, of course, but this season is not finished.  Lakewood will be hunting us, and we need to be ready.  This team has a history of letting down in the second half, and we don’t want to do that this year.”  With four games left on the schedule, it looks like their chances are pretty good—they’ve already changed history once.