By Michael Letendre
BRISTOL – The boys soccer program over at Bristol Eastern just fell short in its CCC South confrontation against Middletown on Tuesday – dropping a 3-2 decision from Alumni Field in Bristol.
The Blue Dragons improved to 8-3-1 overall while the Lancers fell to 3-6-3.
It was senior night for the Lancers and the team just narrowly missed out on nabbing a big tie against the CCC South power.
Middletown’s Marshall Butler notched two goals and Kris Bocchio kicked home the game winner to lead the offense.
Butler got Middletown on the board at 12:16, beating Eastern’s defense and putting home a cross from Bocchio to make it a 1-0 contest in the visitor’s favor.
But the Kingstreeters tied the event up at 1-1 when Justin Sanchez touched a ball back to Connor Policarpio at the top of the Middletown penalty area, setting up a goal.
Policarpio’s left-footed shot found the upper left corner of the net with 6:11 remaining in the first half.
But Middletown scored once again to retake the advantage.
Butler broke free ahead of the field, took in a pass and placed his shot past Eastern keeper Peyton Cummings (five saves) off a diving play.
And with 39:17 left, Eastern trailed 2-1 but continued to keep the pressure on.
“We battled throughout and had some tough breaks,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “It was Senior Night and our seniors played hard against the CCC South leader.”
Policarpio drew Eastern even once again as he sent a free kick from the right side to the upper left corner of the net and with 20:22 left in the second half, it was a brand new game at 2-2.
However, with 1:05 showing on the clock, Bocchio escaped the Eastern defense to put the Blue Dragons ahead for good.
Bocchio was free at the top of the Eastern area and sent a hard shot past Eastern’s second goalie Carlos Portillo (five saves) as the visiting aggression snared a 3-2 edge to win it.
Middletown goalie Tyler Hahn made eight saves to earn the win in the net.
Next on tap for Eastern is a quick trip to Plainville on Saturday at high noon.
NOTES…The Plainville game was moved to Saturday after originally being scheduled for Thursday evening at Tinty Field…Eastern’s final three matches come against Glastonbury (October 24), at Wethersfield (October 27) and Bristol Central (November 1).
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