Raiders rally to forge tie, show resolve necessary to overcome anything

QUINCY — The memories from the five-goal outburst the Gateway Legacy Christian Academy boys soccer team enjoyed against what had been an otherwise impenetrable Quincy Notre Dame defense back in the spring remained fresh.

So fresh, in fact, the Raiders felt like underdogs even in their own hallways.

“A lot of people counted us out for this game,” senior defender Logan Zanger said. “We heard a lot at school today like, ‘Playing Gateway, I don’t know about that. It’s not going to be close.’ I don’t think people thought we’d be in this one.”

When the Lions scored twice in the first five minutes of the second half to go up 3-0, those doubters seemed prophetic.

What none of the naysayers knew was how much resolve the Raiders truly have.

The final 35 minutes Wednesday night at Advance Physical Therapy Field showcased it all. The pressure applied in the attacking third led to three indisputable fouls in the box and three penalty-kick goals from Tanner Anderson, the last of which came with six minutes remaining in regulation and forged a 3-3 tie.

“Everybody kept pushing,” senior defender Quinton Hankins said. “Nobody ever gave up.”

Seeing that is better than the tie.

“Amazing,” Hankins said. “Knowing we have a team that’s not going to give up and is going to continue to push through and through, even in times like that. It’s awesome to know that as a teammate.”

It reinforces the never-out-of-the-fight mentality.

“It shows resiliency,” Zanger said. “We could have given up there at the end of the first half and just thrown it in once they started scoring. But it showed that we’re able to come back. We can stay together in a game like that and not chip away at each other and still push forward.”

Gateway Legacy took the lead in the 21st minute as Hilary Odhiambo got behind QND’s defense, made a run up the right side and buried his shot to Raiders goalkeeper Ethan Sparrow’s right. It was the only run where the Lions got a clean look at the goal in the first half.

In the first five minutes of the second half, Gateway strung together passes and attacked through the middle of the field to set up two scoring chances.

Anderson turned the tide when he was taken down and converted the first penalty kick with 21 minutes remaining. He converted again with 11 minutes remaining and the increased energy among the Raiders became visible.

It skyrocketed when the Lions missed a penalty kick with nine minutes to play, hitting the ball wide left of the net. The Raiders seized the moment by applying consistent pressure, leading to the final PK which Anderson buried for the hat trick.

“We could have easily stopped and rolled over, but we kept fighting,” QND coach Greg Reis said. “I’m definitely proud of them. I think they stepped up and played pretty well. I was proud of the effort to stay in the game. If anything, it’s a good learning tool for later in the season. If we go down, we know we can’t give up and we have to keep plugging away.”