Restrepo, CF rout Oakers
COVENTRY — One team has begun to find their stride, while the other is simply looking to close out the year on a high note.
With four goals scored in each half, Central Falls rolled to an 8-2 win over Coventry on Tuesday afternoon, bumping their record to 5-5-3 with a week to go in the season.
“I think we’re starting to hit our stride,” head coach Carl Africo said after the victory. “We’re starting to figure some things out. We’re starting to play the style of soccer I want to play.”
Christion Restrepo led the way with a hat trick for the Warriors, maintaining his standing as the team’s leading source of offense, while Joeri Rodrigues followed suit with two goals of his own in the winning effort. Larry Garcia, Liedson Gomes and Marcelo Correia each got in on the scoring action as well, with Junior Teixeria Rosa delivering in goal with three saves in what was largely an uneventful afternoon for him.
Aside from the win itself, Africo was most pleased by the progress his players have shown as far as everybody buying into a team-first mentality was concerned.
“They’re starting to play ‘Warriors’ playing for themselves,” he said.
Save for a 6-3 win over Smithfield last Friday, the Warriors had yet to put up more than three goals in a match this season prior to Tuesday’s offensive display.
The visitors were in full control of the match from the onset, taking a commanding 4-0 lead with them into the half, while preventing the Oakers from ever mounting a comeback of any sorts. Restrepo made it 1-0 in just the fifth minute of play on a shot assisted by Gomes, setting the stage for what was to come.
“To Coventry’s credit, they played hard the entire game,” Africo said, complimenting the opposition on what was arguably their most frustrating day in a season full of setbacks. “They didn’t roll over and die and they got two goals from it. It wasn’t because we weren’t trying, so they did a good job.”
The Oakers dropped to 1-11-0 on the year with the loss, but the manner in which they fell on Tuesday was what stuck out to head coach Jamie Cotnoir the most.
“I’ve got no idea what happened today. We’ve been playing a lot better than this here. We just ran into a buzzsaw,” he said.
His club’s defense was unable to slow the Warriors all afternoon.
“They got through against us way too much,” Cotnoir said of Central Falls. “Most of our games have been one-goal games this year and just an absolute blowout today.”
The eight goals Coventry allowed served as a season high, with Moses Brown’s five back on September 10 dropping to second in
vs.
Photo by Jerry Silberman that category.
The one bright spot came from the play of Ian LeClair with the junior accounting for both of the home team’s goals, each assisted by Jimmy Hanashian.
“Ian LeClair had a really good game, put up a couple of points int the effort. He’s been playing really strong all year, but we didn’t get it together,” Cotnoir said of the overall effort.
LeClair’s first goal came in the 59th minute, making it 6-1, with his second coming approximately ten minutes later. Already short on time, Coventry’s faint hopes of an epic comeback were dashed when Rodrigues scored 60 seconds after LeClair’s second goal, making it 7-2 with just over ten minutes left to play.
From there, Garcia tacked on one final score in a match Coventry would just as soon forget.
“He’s got some work ahead of him, but he’s got a good little core going there,” Africo said of Cotnoir’s Oakers, offering encouraging words for the future. He was particularly impressed with the play of goalie Ryan Fraser with the senior posting seven saves on the day for the home team in the loss.
“The keeper was fantastic. He made a couple of really top notch saves,” Africo said.
As for his own team, the final stretch of the regular season is all about one area of focus.
“We’re fighting for seeding now. We trying to push for a home game, even though we don’t have a field,” their coach said.
With three matches left to go, the Warriors have the potential to finish somewhere in the No. 4- No. 6 range as far as seeding is concerned if they are able to run the table.
The first of those three contests will take place on Thursday at Barrington, with the final two to be played against Central and South Kingstown next week.