Arlington offense in charge
Spy Ponders score late, plenty
His team’s torrent of early-season goals has certainly caught the eye of Arlington’ Lance Yodzio, but the timing has impressed the coach even more.
Arlington scored 22 times during a 5-0 start, which ended with a 1-0 loss to Lexington on Thursday, but it’s the Spy Ponders ability to come through in the second half that is more telling.
“It speaks more to the grit of the team and the composure of the team,” said Yodzio. “Those are good trademarks going forward. Right now, we’re still focusing on the process of playing patient, disciplined soccer from start to finish.”
In three consecutive games starting against Watertown on Sept. 13, Arlington went into halftime tied or trailing. Down by a goal against the Raiders, the Spy Ponders — through senior captain and midfielder Francesco Valagussa — notched three second-half goals in a key 3-2 victory.
Arlington followed with decisive second halves against Reading and Woburn, with multiple goals in the final 40 minutes of each to pull away for wins.
“We know that we can score at any moment,” said senior captain Tiago Gomes. “Everything will be bottled up for a second and then all of a sudden we’re through on goal and we score a goal. It’s really amazing.”
After capturing the program’s first Middlesex League Liberty title a year ago with a sensational defense that allowed only 10 goals the entire season, repeat chances may rest with the offense. Arlington graduated goalie Ben Wasco, two center backs and a defensive midfielder from last year’s team, but the offensive pieces remained mostly intact.
Will Clifford and Nirvan Patel-Masini have contributed to the offensive success, but the biggest impact comes from Sean Connelly and Valagussa.
“It’s another year together that they have,” Yodzio said. “They’re really reading each other very, very well.”
Seniors driving Masco
There’s no substitute for experience and Masconomet is well stocked, with 12 seniors spearheading a 6-0 start.
“They want to make this a great year,” said secondyear coach Alison Lecesse. “Having that pressure there that they’re putting on themselves is helping to drive (them) . . . . The seniors have definitely led by example. They’ve also done a great job bringing everybody in and setting the tone.”
A perfect beginning isn’t new for the Chieftains, who were 16-0-2 in the regular season last year before a quarterfinal upset in the sectionals.
While that 2-0 loss to Arlington still lurks in their memory, the Chieftains are more focused on what is in front of them.
“It’s always in the back of their heads,” Lecesse said. “Our ultimate goal is to win the state, but in order to do that we have to focus game by game. We really do take opponent by opponent. We practice accordingly and we take it day by day. You can’t look at that end game until you establish yourself.”
Masconomet has gone about its business in orderly fashion with five shutout victories, including a 1-0 win over Merrimack Valley Conference power Central Catholic.
While the Chieftains receive strong defensive play from Carly Favazza, Athena Kordis and Rachel Murphy along with goalie Carolyn Hanson, they had to fill the void left by AllNew England star Olivia Bonacorso, now playing at Clemson. Sophia Woodland stepped up to be a steady, playmaking presence in the midfield, while sophomores Allie Vaillancourt and Morgan Bovardi — the Chieftains’ leading goal scorer — emerged as critical pieces.
“This team is one of the closest ones we’ve had and I think that camaraderie really plays into the success on the field,” Lecesse said. “We’re really fortunate. We have some great talent, but then they’re also accepting the challenges we’re putting in front of them . . . . When they’re willing to put the work in and want to do it for each other, you can get a lot out of them.”