Monroe Boys' varsity soccer extended their undefeated record against their oldest county rival Bedford to 11 games stretching back to 2019 with a hard fought 3-1 victory on Thursday night. Monroe took the initiative after 30 minutes when a corner from Austin Dunn was headed down by Lucis Rzepa before Trevor Mann forced the ball over the line. Monroe continued to control possession without creating clear chances. Talen Swinkey did hit the foot of the post with a trademark direct free kick but Bedford were able to clear. A series of uncharacteristic errors at the back produced a spell of Bedford pressure which led to a handball in the Trojans penalty box just before the interval. The visitors seized their chance to equalize and the half time score was 1-1

In the second half the Trojans pressed forward and created a number of good opportunities. Austin Dunn, Talen Swinkey and Jovanny Gallegos all went close before another Swinkey shot was saved and Vishwas Joshi was on the spot to fire home the go ahead goal. With 10 minutes to go Swinkey dribbled through and forced another good save from the Bedford keeper and this time it was Gallegos who reacted first to tuck away the third goal.

A very good response in the second half to pull away and secure the victory. Impressive performances from Yuma Watanabe in midfield and Matt Grenn and Bryson Lane at the back. Logan Brockway and Evan Ortiz were combative ball winners throughout the game and Cooper Robinson, Eric Sanchez, Luis Diaz  Aiden and Colin Gray all made important contributions from the bench. Ethan Merkle was solid in goal throughout. Trojans now 5-1-1. Next game vs Dexter (H) on Tuesday September 14 at 7:00pm