The Protestants triumphed once more against the Catholics in a 3-0 win at Campus Rec’s annual “El Clásico” soccer game Oct. 25, retaining their title as champions for the third year straight.
“This right here is our Hillsdale College super bowl,” Catholic senior Patrick Hamilton said. “Catholics versus Protestants is a tale as old as time. It was so exciting to watch, although during my time here, we’ve yet to score a goal.”
Protestant senior and Campus Rec member Dominic Taranto said he believes a soccer game is a healthy way to settle disputes between Protestants and Catholics.
“This is one of Campus Rec’s favorite events to put on,” Taranto said. “We love poking fun at the whole Catholic versus Protestant thing, while at the same time having just a really fun event for the students to enjoy.”
Scores of students, separated by red- and blue-colored clothing, cheered with Vatican flags and makeshift signs on the sidelines of Hayden Park’s turf field.
Catholic senior Daniel Doyle said he was counting on the Catholic team to improve after two years of losses.
“The Catholics need to step it up a little bit,” Doyle said. “Do some good works out there on the field to get that ball into the net. We can’t win this on faith alone. We’re gonna have to do a little bit more.”
The Protestants’ first goal came within the first five minutes of the game when senior and team captain Jacob Beckwith made a free kick, which Protestant freshman Joseph Shipp deftly kicked into the goal.
The student crowd was rife with jeers and trash talk between the sides. Catholics chanted anathemas from the Council of Trent, while Protestants responded with the chant “Read your Bible!” and written taunts on signs like “Buy indulgences now,” and “Meat on Fridays.”
Characters in costumes made appearances at halftime, with Protestant senior Lewis Thune sporting a fake beard and black cap, portraying John Calvin, while the infamous “pope” — Catholic senior Aidan Christian dressed in a pope costume, a tradition he has kept for three El Clásicos — joined the cheering crowd of Catholics to boost morale.
After Protestant junior Zac Briley reenacted the hammering of the 95 Theses on a poster to Protestant cheers, Christian approached him, grabbed the 95 Theses sign, and tore it in half, prompting triumphant shouts from the Catholics.
Briley, however, said he was unfazed by Christian’s tactics.
“The pope tore my sign because he doesn’t respect good theology,” Briley said at halftime. “We’re actually confident we’ll win because we’re confident in our salvation and in our great team.”
In the second half, the Protestant team broke through the Catholic team’s defense twice more, with freshman John Cassiday scoring in the 15th minute. Later, sophomore Charlie DeVries scored in the 36th minute.
Catholic team head coach and junior Max Cote said despite the loss, he was pleased with the team they had this year.
“Although it sucks that this was the third year in a row that we haven’t scored, I think just by watching the game, you can see we had a lot more control in the midfield and made a lot more opportunities to score and make shots on the goal than in the past couple years,” Cote said.
While Cote lauded the Protestant team’s performance, he said he can see Catholics learning from their mistakes next year.
“I don’t doubt that we’ll come back next year,” Cote said. “The future looks a lot brighter for Catholic soccer.”
Protestant team coach and junior Peter Gilchrist said the Protestants’ abilities and dedication helped pull the winning team together.
“It’s just the talent of our players who really put it out on the line there,” Gilchrist said. “They really gave it everything, and at the end of the day, we came away with the win.”
Although the Protestants swept 3-0, Gilchrist said he noticed the Catholics had vastly improved from previous years.
“This matchup gets closer, despite what the score may say,” Gilchrist said. “I think next year and the year afterward, it’s going to become an even better game, and I look forward to seeing them next year.”
