Friday Night Lights 2025
- Maggie Lipson
- 46 minutes ago
- 3 min read
By Jonah Casel ‘27 (Reporter)
Friday Night Lights, also known as Pinkout, is the culmination of all of the excitement of the Fall Season of athletics at Friends’ Central School. 2025 is the third year that this event has existed, and this year it was held on Friday, October 10. Four varsity teams and one JV team played, with times interspersed throughout the evening. In addition to the games going on at all times, clubs set up tables where they could sell food, facepaint, and more to engage the community of FCS. The turnout of the event was excellent, as students from all divisions, teachers, and families came together to support the Phoenix out on the field.
The afternoon began simultaneously on the tennis courts and on the SAC field when the future FSL Champion girls tennis team faced off against Springside Chestnut Hill, and junior varsity boys soccer took the field against Perkiomen School. Both matches started off at 4:00 with a bang, as tennis began their tough-fought, back-and-forth matchup, and the underdog jv soccer team scored a quick lead-taking goal mere minutes into the game. The crowd of friends, classmates, and families were hooked by the action at the tennis courts, but the team unfortunately lost the game by a score of 4-1. However, this loss was one of only four that the team took all season long, and after Friday Night Lights, the team began a hot streak during which they would only lose one more game on the way to an FSL Championship victory. On the other side of the Shimada gym, junior varsity soccer pulled out the best win of their season, by a score of 4-2.
An hour after the beginning of tennis and JV soccer, field hockey and girls soccer began their games. Field hockey took the field against Shipley, a team that they had struggled against in their matchups over the past several seasons, but the Phoenix were determined to get back into the win column. Girls soccer played their game against Merion Mercy on the track field, and they had a hard-fought defensive battle. The crowds formed around both adjacent fields as the sun began to set. Late into the game, Friends’ Central field hockey held a 2-1 lead, and, with some strong play on both the defensive and offensive ends of the field, they pulled off the win, only adding to the team’s best season in over ten years. Simultaneously, girls soccer was trying to erase a 1-0 deficit late into the second half. Despite great scoring attempts near the end and strong support from the crowd, the team unfortunately lost the game by a score of 1-0. Before the final game of the night, Friends’ Central had won two games and lost two games, so it was down to the boys varsity soccer team to bring us home.
The sun had disappeared from the sky over the track field at Friends’ Central School, and it was replaced by several lights that shined onto the field. With all of the other sporting events finished, the entire FCS community made their way to the bleachers lining the edge of the track. The varsity boys soccer game began at 7:00 against a very tough opponent in Perkiomen School. For a large portion of the first half, the Phoenix kept it close, but Perkiomen was able to pull away. The final score was 5-1, and the lone FCS goal was scored by Andrew Shronk ‘27. The event ended on a low note, but, overall, it was a successful evening. The FCS community came together to support each other, and the atmosphere in the bleachers was excellent. Friday Night Lights is always a high point of the Fall season of FCS Athletics, and this year it was no different despite the disappointing outcome of some of the games.
