Lions on a roll after slow start
Lincoln soccer boys earn 7-3 win over Mount Pleasant
LINCOLN – Apparently, 40 minutes of play, senior defender and captain Kyle Rodrigues believed he and his Lincoln High teammates would coast to a decisive victory over Division II opponent Mount Pleasant on Thursday afternoon.
After all, the Lions held a three-goal cushion – and had dominated most of the session. That had to continue, right? Head coach John D’Aloisio knew better, but, hey, kids have to learn.
The Kilties – much more fired up after the break – needed a minute span of 1:37 early in the final stanza to slice the deficit to one and the visitors made it a one-goal game with 15:03 remaining in regulation. Lincoln, however, exploded for three unanswered tallies over the final 11:30 to collect a satisfying 7-3 victory before a sparse crowd at Ferguson Field.
“We had worked so hard, and for all that to get blown away so quickly, it was nuts,” offered sophomore midfielder Thomas Corcoran, who closed with four assists. “It was so disappointing. After that, the midfield had the mindset that
we had to get the ball up the field instead of shooting when we were covered; we needed better crosses and better through balls.
“Eventually, we started putting the ball in the back of the net,” he added. “As for winning, this is great. Now we’re moving up in the league rankings.”
With the verdict, the Lions improved to 5-3-1 in divisional play, while MP dropped to 3-5-0.
“We just started to fall asleep at the start of the second,” D’Aloisio stated. “We were up, 3-0, and I thought the guys got complacent. I didn’t say anything because I wanted them to play through it, see how they would react.
“If they squandered that 3-0 lead, I knew how upset they would be, and they were the one who would have to live with it. They eventually understood the gravity of the situation and responded in kind.”
Senior midfielder Matt Carvalho recorded two goals and an assist, while classmate Chris Accardi chipped in two tallies and fellow senior Chris Albanese and junior Danny Fish the others.
For the Kilties, junior Mathew Suarez managed two scores and a feed.
It certainly didn’t take D’Aloisio’s crew long to begin its first-half barrage. Sophomore Thomas Zhao converted a Corcoran feed just 12:16 after the opening pass, and – less than two minutes later – Accardi knocked home senior David Idarraga’s pass. The two foes then battled back and forth for nearly 25 minutes before LHS earned the 3-0 advantage.
With 2:25 left before intermission, Corcoran ripped a right-side corner kick to the back post, and Carvalho made a nifty leap-and-lunge to head the ball past junior netminder Hector Lopez (four saves).
MP, though, came out with a ven- geance at the start of the final half. Only 1:08 into it, Lokendo Walanga provided a glimpse into what was coming when he stung a long-distance try at freshman keeper Oskar Caldarone, who made the stop.
Exactly six minutes later, Suarez ruined the shutout with a penalty kick, and Jose de Caires Diaz and Suarez hooked up 1:37 later as the 3-0 cushion evaporated to 3-2.
“After we got that penalty and they scored, they scored again when we couldn’t cover a player, I was thinking, ‘Wow, we really have to get it going again,’” noted the captain Rodrigues. “We were looking way too tired, or we were getting lazy. We weren’t taking it as seriously as we should have; losing that lead was crazy.
“One of their players got injured, and I called everyone into a huddle,’” he continued. “I said, ‘Guys, we’re not playing as hard as we should be, could be. We need to be more aggressive and get the momentum back.’”
It took a while, but it worked, as Accardi chipped in Corcoran’s stellar leftside corner kick with 17:24 left, though MP avenged that when Suarez converted Rosendo Juarez Pablo’s pass 2:22 later.
The Lions seemed to take the energy out of the Kilties with 11:30 remaining; after Carvalho found a loose ball at his feet, he juked a pair of defenders, squeezed through and – as Lopez came closer – planted it past him.
Corcoran also assisted on the tallies notched by Fish (with 7:18 left) and Albanese (5:22). for his part, Calderone mustered three saves in the triumph.
Mount Pleasant 0–3–3
Lincoln 3–4–7
First half: L – Thomas Zhao (Matt Carvalho) 12:16; L – Chris Accardi (David Idarraga) 14:14; L – Carvalho (Tom Corcoran) 37:35.
Second half: MP – Mathew Suarez (penalty kick) 46:09; MP – Jose de Caires Diaz (Suarez) 47:46; L – Accardi (Corcoran) 62:36; MP – Suarez (Rosendo Juarez Pablo) 64:58; L – Carvalho (una.) 68:30; L – Danny Fish (Corcoran) 72:42; L – Chris Albanese (Corcoran) 74:38.
Shots on goal: Mount Pleasant 5, Lincoln 11. Goalie saves: Hector Lopez (MP) 4, Oskar Calderone (L) 3.