The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Hopkins collects second straight FAA title
NEW HAVEN — Friday’s torrential rain meant the Fairchester League championship final on Saturday would be played on the turf field rather than the grass field Hopkins had fared well on all season long.
In two previous games on Parr Field, the Hilltoppers had a loss and a tie. The loss came to St. Luke’s — the team standing in the way of back-to-back league titles.
It didn’t matter what the playing surface was, how windy it was or who the opponent was, Hopkins was determined to make it two straight championships. The top-seeded Hilltoppers dictated play from start to finish, shutting out No. 2 seed St. Luke’s 4-0 at a very blustery Parr Field.
“All the fans coming down on the field (to celebrate the win), there’s nothing better than this,” Hopkins senior co-captain Ethan Pritchard said. “The fans gave us energy, they 4 0 intimidate the other team. There is nothing better than winning in front of your home fans.”
Said St. Luke’s coach Ryan Fairhurst: “We played a lot into their hands today in terms of putting the ball up in the air and as you can see, every single player on the field towers over one of my players. So size was the main key, so anything straight up in the air is going to go straight to them.”
Hopkins lost to St. Luke’s in overtime during the regular season. That game led to some readjustments.
“I thought we could have played 10 hours against them the last time and never score,” Hopkins coach Joe Addison said. “We switched things up to generate more offense and, ultimately, that was what won us the game today, more players higher up the field in scoring positions.”
On Thursday, the Hilltoppers defeated Masters in overtime in the tournament semifinals on its normal grass field. Then the decision was made Friday to move the game to turf.
“We wanted to play on grass but with two inches of rain, we had to make the call (to move to turf) and I think it was the right call for safety,” Addison said.
It seemed fitting that the two captains had a say in three of the four goals. Bruno Moscarini scored twice in the second half and assisted to Pritchard on the lone first-half goal.
The Hilltoppers didn’t allow a shot by St. Luke’s until the shot before the halftime buzzer sounded. But they couldn’t do anything with their eight shots and four corner kicks.
“It’s happened a lot this season where we dominate other teams but just can’t score,” Moscarini said. “So getting it right before halftime changed the momentum of the game.”
That goal to break the scoreless deadlock came with 2:58 left before halftime. Moscarini’s free kick was saved by St. Luke’s goalkeeper Kenneth Lam. The deflection came out to Pritchard, who headed the ball into the open net.
“Their strategy was to sit back and defend and hope to get a counter-attack, so it was super-important (to score) because it sort of messed with their strategy,” Pritchard said.
Said Fairhurst: “In the last game, we set up a bit more defensively and today we set out to attack and get at them. That left probably too much space for their better players.”
Then, nearly 8 minutes into the second half, Moscarini was taken down in the box. His penalty kick made it 2-0.
“I saw the keeper move and I changed where I was going (to shoot),” Moscarini said. “I was to going to go to the right, so I changed and went to the left.”
Hopkins still controlled possession after the penalty kick, outside of a couple of chances. Then the captains put it away with just over 5 minutes left, Moscarini scoring from Pritchard.
“I was super-excited for a chance to get back at St. Luke’s,” Moscarini said. “If feels amazing. A home final win, I don’t think it gets better than that.”
Hopkins is not expected to get an at-large bid to the NEPSAC Class A tournament, but St. Luke’s could in the Class C division.