Mike Vukovcan It was an impressive start of the season on Monday for the Hopewell Vikings Junior High Boys Soccer team.
The Vikings traveled to Sewickley Academy for their first scrimmage under Coach Ed Russman and came away with a strong 3-2 win. Congrats Vikings!
Hopewell struck early as Josh Liptak delivered a corner kick that Kaiden Bradford finished for a goal just 10 minutes into the game. Hopewell doubled their lead later in the first half as Kaleb Gonzalez connected with Ben Gibson, who buried the shot to make it 2-0.
Moving to the second half, Liptak extended the lead with a perfectly placed free kick, giving Hopewell a 3-0 lead.
Sewickley Academy didn’t quit and went on to score the next two goals, however timely saves by Hopewell goaltender Josh Sutton preserved the Hopewell lead and eventual win.
Defenders Colden Welte and Dylan Ankrom also anchored the back line with solid play throughout the game.
This scrimmage provided Coach Russman with a strong first look at his 2025 team, who showed both offensive spark and defensive resilience in their opening outing.
The Vikings are back in action this afternoon in their first regular season match when they host Central Valley at the Hopewell Junior High School Field (3:30 PM).
