A (Senior) Night to Remember

On October 20, the Rockhurst Hawklets soccer team faced off against the St. James Thunder. It was Senior Night at the Rock as the opening ceremony started with a rose-giving ceremony in which the six seniors were recognized along with their parents on the field. Seniors also packed the student section to support their classmates.

The Thunder came into the game 5-7 and the Hawklets came in with two losses on the season. St. James tried to use five defenders to contain the Rockhurst offense, but, from the start of the game, the Hawklets controlled the ball and made the Thunder uncomfortable on defense en route to a 5-1 win. Junior Teddy Franke scored a hat trick to pace Rockhurst. His first came in the 13th minute of the first half off a backheel assist into the box by sophomore Uchan Kohring. Then, in the 17th minute, junior Baka Kante assisted Franke for an easy finish. In the 35th minute, junior Henry Mullen assisted on a Franke header.

“I just finished my shots today. I was on point today hitting that inside netting, and my teammates gave me some great passes,” Franke said.

Starting off the second half, Rockhurst didn’t slow down their dominant pace. In the 43rd minute, Kante punched in a goal. Six minutes later, St. James responded by getting one past the keeper. Rockhurst then went more passive and worked to control the game from the defensive side of the ball. 

Then, in the final minute of the game, senior defender Dylan Grojean put one away from the center of the box. It was a fitting moment with it being Dylan’s first goal of the season in the final home regular season game of his Rockhurst career. Afterward, the whole team ran over to him to celebrate.

After the game concluded with a 5-1 final score, the team ran over to sing the alma mater with a lively student section, both celebrating the seniors and passing the torch to the next senior class.