The Rye Boys Soccer team has been playing well all season, but their effort in a 5-0 win on Wednesday, October 8, might be their best yet of the 2025 season. The Garnets controlled the pace of play from the beginning to dominate a good Pelicans team on home turf for a “we mean serious business” type of win, their 10th of the campaign.
“Today set the standard for our program – in terms of mentality, in terms of purpose, and in terms of output,” Head Coach Jared Small told MyRye.com. “Our pre-match talk from Bill Miller was epic, as he established a framework for the boys to understand the meaning of their pink jerseys.”
One of Rye Athletics’ greatest traditions is their soccer programs’ commitment to pink jerseys in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, from youth teams all the way up to high school varsity. Whether it was thanks to a “look good, play good” affect, or just the culmination of a near-full seaon’s worth of individual and group improvement, Rye put forth their most dominant performance of the fall on Wednesday.
Rye received two goals from Connor Dehmer in the first half before Alex Rojas buried one of his own just before the break, giving the Garnets a comfortable 3-0 advantage. The group did not sit back in the second half, as Lex Cox converted a penalty kick that Alex Dodge Terra drew before Dehmer completed the hat trick in the 70th minute to cap off the big offensive showing.
Despite all the goals, Small adamantly raved about the defense in his postgame comments. “There was nothing inevitable about keeping a clean sheet as this opponent has put up a good number of goals this season,” the head coach told MyRye.com. “But Cole Furber was superior in his steps and decision making, Christian Hofmann played with confidence and made several big tackles, and Harrison Zimmer was pure class in his defending and on the ball. Goalkeeper Will Alexander was vocal in organizing the group, and the training that he and fellow goalkeeper Owen Karl have done this season has led them both to grow leaps and bounds since August.”
Small admitted his favorite play of the night was a defensive sequence in the 34th minute that kept Pelham off the board in a 1-0 game at the time, featuring blocked shots from Cox and Shun Nagata, plus a clutch clear from Furber. Moments like those are what makes this performance so impressive for Rye beyond just the goal-scoring output.
The Garnets (10-1-2) have a full week off before their next game, the final home match of the year, on Thursday, October 16. Senior night festivities will begin just before kickoff, which is scheduled for 7:00pm at Nugent Stadium. Watch it here. Replay the recent win over Pelham here.
