BRISTOL – The Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys soccer teams clashed for the first time on Tuesday, October 20 in a city series showdown that saw the Lancers lead from nearly wire to wire. And in the end, Eastern got to the pay window via an impressive 4-1 victory in a Central Connecticut Conference, Region B entanglement from the front soccer field on the campus of Bristol Eastern.

Eastern scooped up a 2-0 lead over the first forty minutes and simply never looked back. “I thought the first half set the tone for the game,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “[Central] had a good run in the second half a couple times. They had a goal and they had a couple other good plays. We were scared to death of their height [but] we stayed with them enough, I guess. I was pleased with that.”

The Lancers (3-1-1) have not lost a match since dropping a frustrating 1-0 contest to Plainville on October 6. Eastern gets a chance to avenge that loss on Friday, October 23 when the Blue Devils – one of the top Class M/S schools in the state – invade the Lancerdome in a huge Region B confrontation.

Central (2-1-1) could not sustain enough controlled drives to put pressure on Eastern’s outstanding keeper while Eastern’s defensive standouts Luke Hammer and Andrew Lozier, and the rest of the line chased down those fast feet for the full eighty minutes.

But Carson Rivoira, Mark Palma, Beckett Hennessey, and crew never gave in and chopped the deficit to 2-1 early in the second half as game-play evened out a bit. The goal energized the visiting aggression, but five minutes later, Central accidentally sent a ball into its own net on an Eastern corner kick and one final tally by Dominik Femiak, who had a tremendous offensive showing, made it a 4-1 game that was too much to overcome.

“The fact is we put ourselves in a massive hole in the first half because we didn’t match any kind of energy that [Eastern] had,” said Bristol Central coach Nate Jandreau. “I thought that we started off the game, maybe the first five or six minutes, and we played exactly how we wanted to play and then we kind of give up a bad goal. It was just like the wind went out of our sails and everybody started feeling sorry for themselves. I don’t understand why and, you know, we just let the rest of the first half get away from us.” The Rams had several second half chances thanks to slick passing from Ethan Crumrine, Palma, and Rivoira, but Eastern keeper Nate Diloreto was on-point – leading his back-line, directing traffic, and allowed just the one goal while making eight saves on the afternoon. “He’s solid,” said Sweet of Diloreto “That’s why he’s going to [play in] college. He made the plays [and] he starts the offense.”

Central’s keeper, Umar Malick (nine saves), was under fire over the first forty but hung in and allowed just the two goals to keep his squad within arm’s reach of the lead. The Lancers dominated play over the first half, using several corner kicks to generate offense situations, and kept Central’s offense away from the Eastern net. Dylan Piazza did his share in setting up his teammates and while there was some back and forth action early, the Lancers scored its first goal just moments into the fray. Eastern had two consecutive corner kick tries and when the second attempt wasn’t totally cleared, Tyler Borry was able to jam the ball into the net as the Lancers nabbed a 1-0 lead early on.

The Lancers earned a plethora of corner kicks in the first half, but the Central defense, with the likes of Austin Browne, Hayden Caudill, Tyler D’Agostino and Malick in the goal held the fort.

Elijah Parent, Piazza and Femiak stayed in attack mode while both keepers made excellent stops as the 1-0 Eastern lead held firm late into the first frame. But just before the halftime whistle could sound, the Lancers struck pay dirt once again. This time, Joe Verardi – coming from the right side of the box – crossed the ball over to Femiak from the opposite side. Femiak was able to pop the ball right by an extended Malick as the home team tallied a 2-0 push. “I think getting ahead took [Central] out of their game,” said Sweet. “It was an advantage for us.”

Eastern ended the first half with a couple additional corner kicks, Lozier was able to pry the ball away from Rivoira late and at the halftime break, it was still a 2-0 game.

For the first 10 minutes of the second forty, Eastern kept the offensive pressure on, but Central slowly got into the flow, and when those fast feet started to operate on the Lancers’ side of the field, those offensive chances increased. “That’s what worried us, their fast feet, that they would connect their passes in their 1-2’s,” said Sweet about Central. “We worked against the 1-2. Of course, [assistant] coach [Bunty] Ray is a basketball coach…give and go’s. But Central is good at that. They are really good at moving the ball.”

Off a Palma ball that was saved by Diloreto, Central quickly earned a corner kick, Hennessey controlled the ball on the play, dropped in a shot that Diloreto couldn’t scoop in and suddenly, it was a 2-1 game with a ton of time left on the clock in the second half. However, any momentum that came from the goal was not realized and the Lancers kept its collective foot on the gas, eventually earning that two goal lead back.

“In the second half we get the goal, we’re feeling good about ourselves,” said Jandreau. “Then we give up another one and it was that same kind of bad feeling. We didn’t respond well to certain goal situations.”

Minutes later, Eastern missed on two consecutive chances, was eventually awarded a corner kick and on the attempt, Browne accidentally headed the ball into the Central net – on a goal credited to Verardi – as the Lancers led it by two, 3-1. “I was really pleased for Joe Verardi,” said Sweet. “He got the goal…but he has two assists also. That was a good day for him. He works hard. He’s not as big or as strong as some other guys but he’s been with us for four years now [and] he’s probably our best passer on the team.”

Again, both teams generated 50/50 ball captures but Central’s chances were stuffed out by Diloreto before one late insurance goal made things academic by the Lancers. Nearing the Central goal, Verardi found a charging Femiak in the middle of the field and the junior notched his second score of the game – posting Eastern to that 4-1 lead, ending the scoring on the afternoon.

“[Eastern] did a good job,” said Jandreau. “They play a certain style that, for years now, we haven’t been able to figure out and get a win out of and I’m just a little disappointed on how we responded to [Eastern’s] style of play and, like I said, those two goals we gave up. If we want to beat them or beat any good teams, we have to be a lot more mentally tougher and I’ll take responsibility for that. We have to be tougher in the way that we respond.”

And in the end, the game plan worked for Eastern as the Lancers won its third match of the campaign behind the three-goal triumph. “I thought we came out with a plan,” said Sweet. “We weren’t going to let [Central] connect passes and I thought in the first half, we really established that.”

Boys Soccer

Bristol Eastern 4, Bristol Central 1

From the Lancerdome – the front field at Bristol Eastern

Scoring 1 2 F

Bristol Central 0 1 1

Bristol Eastern 2 2 4

Goals – Dominik Femiak (BE) 2, Joe Verardi (BE), Tyler Borry (BE), Beckett  Hennessey (BC).

Saves – Umar Malick (BC), 9; Nate Diloreto (BE) 8.

Records – Bristol Eastern 3-1-2 overall; Bristol Central 2-1-1.