By Michael Letendre

BRISTOL – The Bristol Central boys soccer team has some serious postseason aspirations.

But before the postseason gets underway, the Rams were sternly challenged by crosstown rival Bristol Eastern in a CCC South tilt from Alumni Field on Tuesday night.

Central was able to generate two goals, one apiece from Tyler D’Agostino and Carson Rivoira, as the Rams nabbed a huge 2-0 victory – sweeping the Lancers this season.

Central will hit the playoffs at 11-3-2 overall while Eastern completed its campaign at 4-11-1.

The visiting aggression outshot the Kingstreeters by a 3-1 margin while controlling the ball for large chunks of the first forty minutes.

“I think we controlled the midfield really well in the first half tonight to give [keeper] Umar [Malick] and the defense a bit of a breather,” said Central coach Nate Jandreau. “Mark [Palma] and Ethan [Crumrine] really controlled the midfield most of the first half and into the second half too. And when you have so much possession, you limit [Eastern’s] opportunities going forward, and it takes a lot of pressure off a goalie who hasn’t logged a lot of minutes.”

Usual Central keeper Harrison Ross just came back from a concussion and did not play in the city series tilt.

Instead, Malick took the net – earning a shutout for his efforts.

But Eastern trailed by only a goal halftime and maintained that deficit when the Lancers saw more chances at Central’s net early over the second forty.

“In the second half, we [played] much better,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “Our first half was good. [Central] had ball possession. They were down there [in our end], no doubt about it.”

On the Central backline, Beckett Hennessey led the defense along with contributions from Mike Allan, Joe Davila, Chris Oren, and Crumrine among others.

“Those guys in front of [our keeper], like Hennessey Beckett, did a phenomenal job all game,” said Jandreau. “I told Beckett at the start of the game he was going to be the best player for us. And if he wasn’t the best, he was right up there at the top. I was proud of him and the guys on the backline.”

Eastern had standouts all around the field, including the play of Adam and Tyler Borry along with keeper Dylan Piazza (eight saves) in the net and sophomore Preston Guarda on defense.

“Dylan was excellent in the back,” said Sweet. “The two Borry’s were giving us a good [game].”

Rivoira had a quick header attempt just two minutes into the contest as Central went on the attack.

The Rams kept the pressure on with an early corner kick and then Carson fired back with two big attempts – all within the first six minutes of play.

But Eastern’s defense held during that Central onslaught.

The play evened out a bit over the first twenty minutes as Eastern’s corner with 24:25 left went nowhere but the ball wasn’t at Central’s fast feet during those times.

Carson continued his aggression and nearly scored on a corner kick with 20:15 left in the first period.

On the play, the kick sailed into Rivoira and the big man’s header connected on the upper crossbar – leading to a rebound that went right out to Central’s Tyler D’Agostino.

And the senior jammed in the scraps for the game’s first goal as the Rams nabbed a 1-0 edge halfway through the first frame.

“Tyler D’Agostino got to the ball on the back post, he was loose,” said Sweet. “Maybe we could have cleared it but he beat somebody there and that’s the type of goal I’d like to see us get.”

Central did an amazing job setting the offense down the straightaways, outshooting Eastern by several balls going into the second twenty of the first half but the Lancers’ defense did not yield.

Mark Palma had an amazing cross with 4:29 left but the pass didn’t find any paydirt.

With one minute remaining before the half, Central had one more corner kick but Eastern’s Connor Cyr headed the ball out towards midfield, keeping the game a 1-0 contest in the Rams’ favor but within reach of the home squad.

To open the second half, Eastern’s Dominik Femiak nearly had shot reach the net two minutes into the fray but Malick blocked the attempt.

And then on the flip side, Central had a corner kick a minute later but Carson’s header was snatched up by the Eastern keeper.

Central’s pressure was intense but the home team had Carson and Palma marked as best they could.

Eastern had two chances to score with 32:50 left but the Central defense got into the way, snuffing the drive out to keep the Rams in front by a goal.

“In the second half we had a lot play,” said Sweet. “We had to muddy it up. We couldn’t play with [Central’s] feet because they move the ball so fast so we tried to muddy it up and I thought we did a good job in the second half.”

“We had our chances.”

Mark Palma hit a rocket to the Eastern keeper with 30:50 left but the Lancers had another shot on net just miss as another chance came and went.

But with less than 24 minutes to play, it was still 1-0 and the Lancers were desperately trying to knot things up.

Central’s Charles Pittman was sensational throughout the affair and even with 18 minutes remaining, he was still hustling up and down the pitch, putting his teammates in positions to be successful in and around the Lancers’ goal area.

But Eastern continued to load the box with defenders to help nullify Central’s offensive studs.

And Tyler Borry had two shots at it with 14:05 left via an Eastern corner kick but a goal never came.

“I think especially in the second half, [Eastern] started throwing a lot of people forward, putting their best players up there and guys that give you kind of different things athletically, strong guys [and] guys with some skill,” said Jandreau. “And our defense held up well.”

Frank Palma put a slick cross through the Eastern box with just over 11 minutes to go but Eastern refused to yield a second goal.

A Lancers’ corner kick with nine minutes remaining was greeted by a Rivoira header as the senior immediately took control of the ball.

And in a blink of an eye, Rivoira was off to the races.

Rivoira beat every defender coming at him from the left side of the turf over a tremendous sixty-yard gallop as he streaked to the Eastern goal area.

Carson quickly crossed into the box, juked the ball a bit and then blasted a shot to the right side of the goal that found the back of the net and with 8:39 remaining, it was a 2-0 game in Central’s favor.

“That was a great individual play, one-on-one,” said Jandreau. “He took it for sixty yards. He was calm, he was collected, he went by a couple guys and the finish was just top-notched.”

It got chippy late but the Rams kept the pressure on as Eastern was trying desperately to sink in a score.

Frank Palma just missed on a chance from Pittman with 4:40 left while Tyler Borry had a shot just drop out at the 1:35 mark of the second half.

And as the final horn sounds, the Rams came away with a sweep of the Lancers this season via the 2-0 win.

“The problem was this year, the loose ball, we didn’t get to it fast enough,” said Sweet. “And we weren’t able to [tonight].”

CCC SOUTH BOYS SOCCER

BRISTOL CENTRAL 2, BRISTOL EASTERN 0

from Alumni Field on the campus of Bristol Eastern

Scoring                       1 2 – F

Bristol Central          1 1 – 2

Bristol Eastern          0 0 – 0

Goals – First Half

19:50 – Tyler D’Agostino (Bristol Central)

Goals – Second Half

71:21 – Carson Rivoira (Bristol Central)

Saves

Umar Malick (Bristol Central), 6; Dylan Piazza (Bristol Eastern), 8.

Records: Bristol Central 11-3-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-11-1