The DIS high school boys’ soccer team checked into the Daegu military base on Apr. 2 for a friendly derby against Daegu Middle High School (DMHS). With only two weeks of official training, the squad walked onto the field with low confidence. A victory against the experienced opponent seemed out of reach. 

The absence of a large field on the Jets campus presents a big obstacle for the players to garner minutes on the pitch. The match served as a practice to test the boys’ abilities and adjust their footing in a live 11 vs 11 scenario. They took this chance to experiment with different line-ups and strategies. 

The game consisted of 30-minute halves. Both teams started with great intensity. As the fifth game of their season, DMHS played composed while the Jets slowly adapted to the field. April winds typically blow in heavy pollution from China in the east, but clear skies prevailed on game day. 

Both the Warriors and the Jets created great opportunities, but the game ended 0:0. The two teams fought hard and ended the battle in a stalemate. 

The brief but effective preparation led to all the brilliant moves in action. The newly acquired access to the fitness center evidently helped the athletes. They recreated in-game fatigue and conditions through interval sprints on the treadmills. The training translated right into the game, and DIS did not fall behind. 

“The gym helped a lot by enhancing everyone’s individual performances because core and abs are very important. And last year, we didn’t have much opportunity to strengthen that physical power individually. Due to the new implementation of the Fitness Center, we did a really good job enhancing one’s individual performance…The sprinting practices really helped. For me, it helped me with sudden acceleration, which is very important,” said Jayden Ahn, captain of the DIS soccer team.

Additionally, Brian Hyun earned the “Man of the Match” (MOTM) title. The DMHS goalkeeper Vitale Tillman said, “I felt like it was an even and fun game, there were scoring opportunities for both teams and neither team had any bad mistakes. In my opinion, the best player on the DIS team was their goalkeeper because he saved two 1 on 1 shots from two of my players. I would love to play DIS again.”

The Jets return to the KISAC tournament in mid-April. They continue to refine their skills to make a deep playoff push.

“It was good. We were quite struggling, but not as much as we expected. I think we did a very good job defensively. Although we didn’t have experience in a big field, we had a very stable defensive four-back line. Because it’s such a hard thing to play four-back, I think we did a good job lining up the defensive line. Overall it was a very good experience, and it served as a peddlestone for the upcoming KISAC tournament…We did a really good job, but we have room for improvement,” Ahn said.