Saints demolish Scituate in D-III
CUMBERLAND — There were no surprises for the No. 1 St. Raphael boys soccer team in Thursday night’s Division III semifinal against No. 5 Scituate.
The talented Saints knew the Spartans were going to be physical and they knew the Spartans were going to try to soak up pressure and hit the Saints on the counterattack just like their regular-season meeting.
Unlike that meeting last month in Scituate when the Spartans handed the Saints their only loss of the regular season, St. Raphael didn’t make defensive mistakes.
Freshman forward Devan Kipyego gave the Saints the lead in the 31st minute with a well-worked goal and the regular-season champs poured it on the in the second half.
Talented seniors Edgardo Cardona and Dylan Polion scored long-range goals within a minute of each other in the second half to blow the game open, and forward Jeff Codman added an insurance goal in the 54th minute to secure a 4-1 victory.
“We knew they were going to do what they do since we played them the first time,” St. Raphael coach Miguel Sagastume said. “They were very clear on their style in the first five minutes. They made us pay for our mistakes the first time, so we knew what was coming. Our whole training sessions have been about finding those holes and scoring the first goal and creating chances.”
The Saints’ talented core – Codman, Polion, Cardona, Antonio Serena, Dan Flynn and Diego Romero – finds itself in a familiar position. The Saints head to Cranston Stadium Sunday night at 5 o’clock to play Toll Gate for the Division III title. This will be the Saints’ third straight trip to the final, but they’ve come home with the second-place plaque in each of the last two seasons.
Sagastume, who is in his first season in charge of the Saints, is well aware of the results the last two finals against Cranston East and Pilgrim and he wants to bring the first boys soccer title to Walcott Street.
“From Day 1, we’ve said it – our goal is to be there and now we’re there,” Sagastume said. “We’ll just take it as another game, it’s just a game. We have to get one more step of the three steps. Toll Gate is a competitive team and it was a tough battle when we played them. It was a physical game, but we know they’re going to be up for it because we beat them at their home.”
Scituate, which knocked out the defending champion Patriots in the quarterfinals, received a consolation goal in the 75th minute senior midfielder Nathan Vernava. The Spartans set out the way most teams have against the Saints by putting one forward up top and putting the rest of their players behind the ball to frustrate the Saints.
The tactic paid off for the opening 30 minutes because the Saints couldn’t get near senior goalie Nathan Angelino. The Saints finally broke down the stubborn Spartans in the 31st minute when Kipyego ran on to a through balled and fired a shot past Angelino.
“That type of ball is something we’ve worked on the whole week,” Sagastume said of the ball that bisected Scituate’s central defenders. “At halftime we talked about how we got the one that we wanted – the first one – but we needed to get a second one. Once that happens, it will open things up for more goals.”
The second goal came in the 50th minute when Cardona ripped a shot from 25 yards into the net. The third goal followed a minute later when Polion picked out a corner from the top of the box, leaving Angelino no chance to save the shot. Angelino saved a close-range shot in the 54th minute, but Codman was on hand to put in the rebound to send Saints on to the final.
Scituate received a consolation game in the 75th minute when Vernava cleaned up a chance in front of goalie Spencer Hsu.
“From Day 1, we’ve said it – our goal is to be there and now we’re there. We’ll just take it as another game, it’s just a game. We have to get one more step of the three steps.”
— St. Raphael’s Miguel Sagastume