Veiga delivers in OT for Brockton boys
Once Brockton senior Zion Afonso Depina poked the ball through a defender’s legs, his eyes lit up.
Afonso Depina galloped into space down the left side, hearing senior Josef Veiga calling for the ball in the box on a two-on-one break.
Afonso Depina slid the ball to the 6yard line and Veiga finished on the first touch with the inside of his left boot, sprinting across the field with his teammates in celebration as the ball rested in the net.
Veiga’s dramatic goal with 1:32 elapsed in overtime sealed a 1-0 victory for No. 22 Brockton over No. 11 Newton North in the first round of the MIAA Division 1 boys’ soccer tournament.
“I had loads of space on the right side,” said Veiga. “Zion had the ball, I called [for it], he took an amazing touch through the player’s legs, it was just me and the keeper, and I had the composure to finish it.”
The contest was fiercely physical, with both teams jostling for sustained possession throughout.
The Boxers (15-2-2) knocked on the door in the waning minutes of regulation but broke through with the golden goal.
“For a good month and a half now, we’ve been focusing on sticking together, focusing on what we have to do, and it’s been working,” said Brockton interim coach Michael Cruise, the team’s third coach of the season. “You can see how much the guys love each other, work for each other, and I couldn’t be more proud to be their coach.”
Senior center back Walter Fernandes stonewalled the Tigers, stepping up to make clutch clearances as the last man back.
“In my opinion, he’s one of the best players in the state,” said Cruise. “We put a lot on his shoulders and he holds it up for us.”
The Tigers (9-6-4), a Division 1 finalist a season ago, remained on the field for more than 25 minutes after the conclusion of the game, overcome with emotion. “You play games and hope that doesn’t happen to you and when the golden goal situation happens to you, it sucks,” said Newton North coach Roy Dow. “There’s really no other way to put it.”
Division 2
Reading 2, Northampton 1 — Nick Mirogiannis and Baxter McCarthy scored for the No. 32 Rockets (7-9-1) in the preliminary-round win.
Sharon 1, North Attleborough 0 — Miguel Vasconcelos netted the lone goal on a rebound in the first half, sending the No. 18 Eagles (7-6-6) into the second round.
Division 3
Norwell 3, East Bridgewater 0 — Max Flanders (two goals) and Garrett Fisher combined to score three second-half goals for the eighth-seeded Clippers (14-2-4) in the first-round win.
Stoneham 3, Saugus 0 — Jacob Ribaudo, Yves Maurer, and Anderson Illanes tallied a goal in a first-round victory for the No. 12 Spartans (8-7-4).
Division 4
Cohasset 1, Nantucket 0 — Nathan Askjaer provided the scoring for the ninthseeded Skippers (8-8-3), netting the lone goal in the first half of the first-round win.
Randolph 7, Burke 2 — Jonas Norsica notched three goals and Angelot Brun added two to advance the 10th-seeded Blue Devils (11-6-2) to the quarterfinals.
Girls
Division 1
King Philip 6, Beverly 0 — Addisyn Lamothe-Vaughn and Heidi Lawrence each scored twice, propelling the No. 10 Warriors (14-4-1) to a first round win. Dani Lomuscio and Ella Pisani tallied a goal and an assist apiece.
Lincoln-Sudbury 4, Concord-Carlisle 3 — Frankie Liu finished a corner from Annie Rapisarda in double overtime, lifting the No. 17 Warriors (13-3-4) to a first-round victory over their Dual County League rival.
Attleboro 2, Bridgewater-Raynham 1 — Jamie Davies scored the eventual winner in the 20th minute, winning a solo rush against the goalie with a shot to the left, to guide the No. 31 Bombardiers (8-9-2) through the preliminary round.
Division 2
Melrose 1, East Longmeadow 0 — Junior goaltender Ava Tormo notched a shutout and sophomore Chloe Mahoney scored on an assist from junior Ellie Deeble in a first-round victory for the No. 18 Red Hawks (8-6-5).
Division 3
Archbishop Williams 1, Norton 0 — Maeve White scored the winner five minutes into the second half to propel the No. 14 Bishops (14-5) to the victory.
Medway 2, Cardinal Spellman 1 — Cailyn DiMinico scored the winner with 18 minutes left in the second half for the 15thseeded Mustangs (10-5-4). Shannon Mejia also scored for Medway in the firstround victory.