Gina Schreier ’26, Sports Staff Writer

On Monday, September 29, the Newark Academy community was invited to watch Newark Academy boys’ soccer (NABS) compete at Sports Illustrated Stadium (Home of the New York Red Bulls) in Harrison, NJ. The event brought together students, faculty, and families throughout the NA community in support of NABS as they took on crosstown rival Livingston High School. NA boasted an impressive student section — a spirited group led by the brand new Poms Team and great attendance from the Class of 2026. 

In a close match, which kept the NA fans on their feet for most of the game, NABS scored the only goal of the night to take the lead and eventually the win. The goal came in the second half from Nico Rodriguez ’28, earning an electric reaction from the NA crowd. When the final whistle blew, NA fans erupted in cheers as the NABS team raced over to share the celebration with the rest of the community.

Jacob During ’26, a starter on NABS and member of the team’s Leadership Council, explains what it felt like to play at the Sports Illustrated Stadium. “The entire night was an absolutely electric and energetic experience,” he says.“It was really a great opportunity to get to play in a setting like that, in a professional stadium under the lights.” 

Boys’ soccer was not the only athletic group that had a successful night, with the Poms Team providing entertainment at halftime. Poms is a brand new, student-led club that performs a mix of cheer and street-style dance during Minutemen Athletics events. The group is supervised by Dance Director Elise Pacicco and Health and P.E. Teacher Megan Ferentinos. Like NABS, Poms came out through the stadium tunnel before breaking into a thrilling choreographed routine at midfield. Poms has continued to be active in recent weeks, performing at various Homecoming games and solidifying their place as a new staple of NA Athletics.

Though several schools in the area have played at Sports Illustrated Stadium as a part of the High School Rivalry Series, securing a match for Newark Academy required a lot of work, much of which can be attributed to boys’ soccer Head Coach Hernando Santamaria. Setting up the event may have taken diligent planning, but Coach Santamaria remembers it to be a positive experience. “It was a lot of fun because I got to talk to a lot of different people, both through Red Bulls and inside the school,” he says. “The whole experience was so great, it was definitely worth the hard work.”

There is no doubt that players, coaches, and fans alike found the game to be an exciting success, and when an event is so well received, it begs the question: what is coming next? Coach Santamaria did not have a definitive answer in terms of another Red Bulls game, but he was certainly hopeful and full of ideas. “With the success of this first one, I do foresee it happening in the future,” he says. “I would love for it to be a doubleheader with girls’ soccer. We might not be at the point of doing it every year, but maybe once every four years, so that every player who goes through the program can have that experience before they graduate.”