Korea University (KU) tried its best to score a goal against Yonsei University (YU) but its attempts failed in the 2022 Ko-Yon Soccer Games. The match was held on October 29 at the Goyang Stadium, lasted around 90 minutes, and resulted in a 0-1 loss. But besides the loss, spectators were able to observe an overall great maintaining of strategic positions while looking at well calculated passes. 

During the first half of the match, KU and YU remained constantly tied at 0-0 as several shooting attempts were made by both sides. Many passes, a similar possession percentage, small corners, and offsides stood out during this period, which in turn resulted in loud cheerleading to see who would score the first goal. On one occasion, KU players tried to look for open offensive positions and fooling the opponent’s defense with tactics including a back pass and forward dribbling.

The second half saw more fouls and offside plays committed by YU players, so the referees ruled for more direct and indirect free kicks given to the opposing KU team. However, KU players failed to score most of them and YU player Cho Dong-yeol, with jersey number 18, scored the only goal of the match once the game reached 50 minutes with 54 seconds. KU’s defense proved to be weak on the left part of the penalty side, resulting in the goal.

Even though the match remained tense throughout the match, cheerleading from both KU and YU continued to be in high spirits. Students and alumni were observed to be singing, dancing, and cheering from the sidelines. “It was an incredible experience to see such skilled players, and cheering with other friends was really fun,” mentioned Yoon Jisung (‘18, Biomedical Engineering) in an interview with The Granite Tower (GT). While another proud KU spectator, Kwon Hoik (‘16, Economics), also agreed with Yoon by mentioning “the cheering as an unforgettable moment.” 

Regardless, KU took first place in the 2022 Ko-Yon Games and broke a six year spree by winning the ice hockey, basketball, and rugby matches. It only lost the baseball and soccer matches. Thus, as the games finally closed down, students were able to witness strong sportsmanship and cheerleading occasions