By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The Bristol Eastern boys soccer squad was in the mix against Maloney on Tuesday, hanging around in a 1-1 tie at the half.
But the Spartans scooped up two second half goals as the visitors snared a 3-1 victory over the Lancers in a CCC South battle from Alumni Field in Bristol.
It was Maloney’s first win of the season (1-5) while Eastern fell to 2-4 overall.
And the Spartans drew first blood in the conference tilt.
Maloney’s Stalyn Velasco scored halfway through the first period on a quick shot just inside the Eastern penalty area as the Spartans nabbed a 1-0 push.
But with about ten minutes left in the first half, the Kingstreeters had a response.
Justin Sanchez ended up beating two defenders and delivered a cross to the top of the penalty area to Eddie Ansah for a goal as the contest was quickly knotted up at 1-1.
In the second half, Maloney’s Alejandro Soto posted the game winning goal.
Velasco drilled a hard shot at the Eastern goal that keeper Carlos Portillo dove at and blocked.
In the resulting scramble in front of the net, the ball was never totally cleared and Soto knocked it home – propelling the Spartans to a 2-1 edge.
And with about twelve minutes to play, Maloney’s Miguel Cardona sent a long ball into the Eastern goal area where a miscommunication between the defense and Portillo saw Maloney add an insurance score to give the visiting aggression a 3-1 lead that was never challenged.
“Maloney had more energy than us tonight as they consistently won balls and put us under pressure in the second half,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “We failed to connect our passes and our movement was poor.”
Keeper Kory London made six saves for Maloney while Portillo scooped up seven for Eastern.
To open the month of October, the Lancers host Edwin O. Smith on Friday in a CCC Interdivisional showdown.
Game time is 3 p.m.
After an 0-3-1 start, the Panthers have won two straight matches – shutting out both Manchester (1-0) and East Hartford (2-0) to close out September.
