By Michael Letendre 

PLAINVILLE – Over the past two seasons, the Bristol Eastern boys soccer team has been taking its lumps against the elite of the Central Connecticut Conference. 

This year, it’s the Lancers turn to dish out a little misery on the pitch. 

Eastern took it to Plainville on Wednesday afternoon, shutting out the program over a 2-0 victory from Alumni Field at Tinty Stadium on the campus of Plainville High School. 

The CCC South bout saw the Kingstreeters improve to 2-1 overall while the Blue Devils fell to 1-2-1. 

The Lancers completely controlled the match when it was hanging in the balance and after a 1-2 scoring punch by Eddie Ansah and Liam Sanchez-Barreto, the contest was all but over. 

“I thought we moved the ball really well,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “We had the ball at our feet. The other day [against Lewis Mills], we had the ball in the air too much. Today, I thought we moved it really well on our feet. Players found space, earned space and we had good pressure.” 

Just over 73 seconds into the second half, Eastern’s Lucas Tylicki set up the perfect corner kick, lofting a ball to the far side of the Plainville net. 

Ansah eventually ended up with the ball – jamming it in for the go-ahead goal as the Lancers scooped up a 1-0 lead. 

And then with 16:08 remaining, a failed clear led to Sanchez-Barreto booting in an insurance tally from the right side of the goal that made it a 2-0 game – more than enough to stave off pesky Plainville. 

The Blue Devils were playing back-to-back games as the showdown against the Lancers was a makeup match from earlier in the campaign due to inclement weather. 

“Plainville had played, they had to play last night,” said Sweet. “And then this is a makeup, and this is hard on them. We understood that and we wanted to push too but we just haven’t been on the field in a while. We’ve been practicing on a half field, full field not that much [because] of the weather, the heat, whatever it may be.” 

“For us to get in a game where we played eighty minutes, it’s only the third one that we’ve had as scrimmages were shorter periods. We’ve got to get in shape with our younger kids. I’m pleased.” 

Eastern was the aggressor off the first whistle and simply did not relent. 

The Lancers showed superior ball control despite not getting a shot by Plainville keeper Ian Bravado (five saves) in the first half but that didn’t stop the visiting aggression from trying. 

Over first period play, the Blue Devils were outshot 6-0 as the home team truly didn’t have a good attempt at the net thanks to excellent defensive play by Eastern fullbacks Rio Fernandez – making some long throw-ins into the Plainville goal area when he provided a little offense – along with Landon Gawel, Jeshua Portillo and Sam Lamar. 

“Rio’s been really solid this year,” said Sweet of Fernandez. “And his throws are a big [deal] for us, too. His defense, I’ve really been impressed with him. All the backs are better. Of course, they played last year, and they played that tough schedule. They’re a little bigger and a little stronger.”  

Offensively, Ansah, Rocco Barbino, Sanchez-Barreto, David Hunter Scott, and Tylicki all kept the pressure on the Plainville defense.

That grouping had several good chances that were either stunted by the Plainville defense or a well-timed stop by Bravado. 

Tylicki played plenty of good through balls over the first forty, just missing one of Eastern’s fast feet and Plainville did enough to keep Ansah and the offense bottled up in a crowd. 

On the flip side, scoring chances for the Blue Devils were few and far between throughout match play. 

With 29:10 left in the first half, Plainville’s Mario Cruz had his best chance to score but Cummings snuffed out the drive and the scoreless affair continued. 

Plainville was simply just a pass or two short but Eastern’s ball control nearly netted a couple chances midway through the match. 

BE’s corner with 16:50 left in the period was booted out by defender Nick Tuczapski and then Fernandez shot a laser through the Plainville defense three minutes later that was stopped by Bravado. 

But Bravado didn’t have full control of the ball and had to scoop it back in to keep things scoreless. 

Off a trip and foul by Plainville, Tylicki took a shot from the 20 yard-line, but it was popped out by the Bravado, leading to a corner kick with 5:49 before the half. 

The ball was barely cleared in a crowd as the showdown was still 0-0 approaching the end of the half. 

Ansah then put a through ball in that did not find an Eastern foot and while the Blue Devils picked up some steam on a couple late counters, that first goal remained elusive as the match was a scoreless stalemate at the half. 

After that quick corner kick score by Ansah to open the second forty to make it 1-0, Eastern remained aggressive and refused to take its foot off the gas. 

The Lancers kept the pressure up on both sides of the ball with the offense humming.

Eastern’s Leslie Adzo was hustling up top, especially over second half play, and Fernandez and the defense stopping Plainville penetration. 

“He gave us a lot of energy in the second half,” said Sweet of Adzo. “He just pressured, pressured and pressured and the backs were pretty confident.” 

Ansah and Sanchez-Barreto just missed up on follow up scores as the Lancers had another corner with 19:08 left which eventually led to a laser from Tylicki who kicked the ball over the goal from about 25 yards out. 

Seconds later, Sanchez-Barreto scored to make it a two-possession game and the home team couldn’t match Eastern’s offensive prowess. 

The play evened out a bit over the final 15 minutes and off a handball violation by Eastern, Plainville’s Cole Jones had the squad’s best attempt to score but his bullet with 14:31 to go was kicked wide left.

In fact, Eastern keeper Peyton Cummings might not have broken a sweat all afternoon. 

The play went back and forth from there as Adzo kept the Eastern offense churning until the final horn sounded as Eastern got to the pay window via the 2-0 win on the road. 

“Plainville had a little run towards the end, but I think we were kind of settling back a little too much and not pressuring enough, letting them get started,” said Sweet. “But I was pleased with the play.” 

Bristol Eastern Boys Soccer – CCC South Entanglement 

BRISTOL EASTERN 2, PLAINVILLE 0 

from Tinty Field, Plainville 

Scoring                                   1 2 – F 

Bristol Eastern (2-1)             0 2 – 2 

Plainville (1-2-1)                    0 0 – 0 

Individual Scoring – First Half 

– None (0-0 Halftime score) 

Individual Scoring – Second Half 

– Eddie Ansah (Bristol Eastern), 41:13 

– Liam Sanchez-Barreto (Bristol Eastern), 63:52 

Shots on Goal:Bristol Eastern 13; Plainville 1 

Saves: Peyton Cummings (Bristol Eastern), 1; Ian Bravado (Plainville), 5. 

Records: Bristol Eastern 2-1 overall; Plainville 1-2-1.