By Michael Letendre 

BRISTOL – After a 1-1 first half stalemate between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys soccer teams on Tuesday, the Rams flipped in three goals over the final forty to topple the Lancers by a 4-1 score from the turf field at BCHS.  

Central (5-1-2) notched four consecutive goals to defeat Eastern (2-6) as Mark and Frank Palma each scored a goal make it a 2-1 contest and then Carson Rivoira took over from there – blasting in two insurance tallies that made the match academic for the Rams.

“I think in the first half…we took twenty minutes to get ourselves acclimated to the game,” said Central coach Nate Jandreau. “I don’t know why it surprised us. We’ve talking about it all week, you know what kind of game it’s going to be and it took us a while to get settled in.”

“And once we got settled in, they came out really hard in the second half and did exactly what we talked about. They put some pressure on [Eastern] and didn’t give them room to breathe and we had some goals to show for it.” 

Eastern’s Dominic Femiak flipped in the first goal of the game and the Lancers played a strong first twenty.

But the Kingstreeters couldn’t keep up in the end as Central’s speed and length became an issue.

“Central’s feet are rather fast,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “[But] I thought we did a good job.”

Sweet credited the two Borry boys in the back, Adam and Tyler, in helping slow down bulldog Carson Rivoira and a very strong Central offense.

Preston Guarda and Andre Gonzalez also gave Central offenders fits early but the Lancers were overwhelmed offensively to start the second half.

The Rams defensive core, led by keeper Harrison Ross, allowed the Lancers just the lone goal as the combination of Beckett Hennessey, Umar Malick, and Mitchell Peterson loomed large on the back line.

But just over six minutes in, Eastern snuck on the scoreboard first.

Femiak attacked from the left, released a rocket and when it found paydirt, the visitors led 1-0.

Eastern continued to pressure up front but Central got right back in it when, off a failed clear, Mark Palma took advantage and drilled a ball by Eastern keeper Carlos Portillo – trying the contest up at 1-1 with 17:03 to play in the first half.

“I thought the first 20 minutes, actually, we really had them off their play,” said Sweet. “Actually the goal that came with [17 minutes in the first half] was our mistake. It was there for the goalie and the second one, our goalie, I don’t know if he didn’t see it or whatever, but if we make those plays, I think we’re right there. But they’re a quality team and they took advantage of it.” 

“The Palma kid is known for doing things. He’s a quality player. He pounced on our mistake.”

With 10:15 to go in the first half, Central’s Ethan Crumrine made a nice run from left to right in front of the Eastern net but his stab missed while Femiak – nearly going 1-on-5 – had his drive stopped by the Central defense soon after.

Central’s Charles Pittman had a late attack from the outside that Adam Borry denied while Malick’s header was saved by Portillo with 4:40 to play in the first period.

And at the half, it remained a 1-1 affair but Central came out with zest over the second forty, beating Eastern’s defensive efforts.

“I told them going into the game we had to win the midfield,” said Jandreau said. “It’s getting possession, it’s gaining possession and then keeping it on the carpet. We have to keep this thing on the ground. When it starts bouncing and turns into a volleyball game, that’s not good for us.” 

Corner kicks, with Central holding an 8-1 edge in that department, began to mount up and those chances eventually began to pay off.

“In the second half, we knew they’d come out” with aggression said Sweet of Central. “That’s the way they play. In the second half, they come out like banshees. Nate’s done a great job with that group.”

After a quiet 12-plus minutes to open the second, Frank Palma notched the game-winning goal with the ball coming from the left side and Palma getting just enough of a foot on it to sneak it by Portillo to give the Rams the lead for good at 2-1.

Malick later had a shot just curve out to the left of the BE goal and a tying attempt by the Lancers hit the top of the Central goal post with 29:27 to play.

“We got a little bit tired and lost a little bit of our touch,” said Sweet. “We could have pressured a little more. Their size hurt us a little in the corner [kicks]. When the Malick kid goes up with Rivoira, we don’t have a match-up for them. We do the best we can. We go up with them but they can get above us.”

And then the first insurance goal by Rivoira was set-up via a corner kick from Crumrine.

Crumrine popped in the perfect assist as Rivoira, stationed just feet from the center of the Eastern goal, headed it through and with 23:32 to go, it was a 3-1 contest.

“He’s been scoring on corner kicks all year,” said Jandreau of Rivoira. “He’s really dangerous and it’s not just him. We’ve got to get good service and we finally got some good service. When the right play [is] called, it’s going to be tough to keep him out from five yards away.”

That 3-1 score held until 3:15 remaining when Rivoira simply unleashed a 30-yard bomb into the Eastern net – good for his second score of the city series event – as Central picked up a three-goal cushion that was never challenged in the end.

When the final horn sounded, Central earned a big 4-1 victory for it’s fifth triumph of the campaign.

“I’m happy with the way we played [but] I’m upset with the decision,” said Sweet.

Bristol City Series Boys Soccer 

BRISTOL CENTRAL 4, BRISTOL EASTERN 1 

from the turf field on the campus of Bristol Central 

Bristol Eastern          1 0 – 1 

Bristol Central           1 3 – 4 

Halftime – The match was tied at 1-1. 

First Half Scoring: 

Bristol Eastern (6:05) – Dominic Femiak

Bristol Central (22:57) – Mark Palma 

Second Half Scoring: 

Bristol Central (52:50) – Frank Palma

Bristol Central (56:28) – Carson Rivoira

Bristol Central (76:45) – Carson Rivoira (2) 

Records: Bristol Central 5-1-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 2-6