Boys soccer conference rivals The Classical Academy and Falcon look forward to facing off every year, and this matchup was no different. 

While last year’s contest saw TCA score seven times and shut out Falcon, Wednesday was a much tighter contest between the Colorado Springs Metro North opponents. 

After a scoreless first half, the Titans’ Micah Barrett scored for TCA in the 59th minute. Despite a couple of attempts at the goal in the final minutes, the host Falcons were unable to respond in the 1-0 game. 

“For the most part, we controlled possession well,” Titans head coach Blake Galvin said. “They did a good job at keeping their composure. Really pleased about that. At times, we had a few more unforced errors than I would have liked, but overall, I was pleased with the guys; they fought hard. It was a good win.” 

Barrett’s goal came off a free kick from teammate Timothy Wu, who set Barrett up for a shot to the center of the net. It was Barrett’s third goal of his senior season. 

“It was definitely exciting, I went right to celebrating with the team,” Barrett said. “The energy around the team is what makes this year different; we always back each other up.”

The game was aggressive Wednesday, with several injuries and yellow cards issued. 

While the first half ended 0-0, it still saw plenty of action with TCA (6-2-2) keeping the ball in Falcon (4-7-1) territory for most of the 40 minutes with multiple shots at goal. Falcon’s goalkeeper Lucas Jones and the Falcon defense played a large role in keeping the Titans at bay. 

“The Falcon defense was very aggressive,” Galvin said. “The second half, we were able to break through a bit more. … Falcon was scrappy and went at it, played hard and gave us a game for sure.“

Despite falling to the Titans, Falcons head coach Harry Forehand III is proud of their growth since last year’s loss. 

“It was a lot of mental positivity,” Forehand said. ”We just went in feeling good after the last couple of games, and just had everyone in the right spot and fought hard. Their fight, grit, and composure tonight were extraordinary.  

“TCA is always a tight team; they always give us a good game, and we would like to think we give them a good game as often as possible. It’s nice to see the improvement from last year; it was a tight game.”

Building team chemistry has been a point of focus for the Falcons, and that growth helped them keep the score close against the Titans. 

In fact, Forehand sees camaraderie and teamwork as the team’s biggest strengths this year. 

“I think the difference from last year is we cut out the toxicity and tried to bond as a team and really just being aggressive,” Falcons senior Jadon Barrett said. “Our team has had doubts before going into games, but today we really channeled it in and really believed we would win this game. That’s what we have been looking for: passion going into games. I’m super proud of this team.”