By Michael Letendre

MERIDEN – When the Bristol Eastern boys soccer team hits the pay window, those players – and coaches – expect to collect a handsome bounty.

That’s exactly what happened on Tuesday afternoon at Platt High School in Meriden.

The CCC South bout saw the Lancers win its third straight match with its 8-4 demolition of the Panthers, moving to a stout 4-1 overall, while Platt fell to 2-4.

The eight goals were a season-high for the Eastern program. 

The Lancers Liam Sanchez-Barreto and Platt’s Angel Aguilar led their respective teams with three goals apiece.

This wasn’t an easy challenge as Eastern took the lead, lost it, but regained the edge before the halftime horn sounded.

The Lancers jumped to an early 2-0 lead as Sanchez-Barreto picked off a pass and scored with less than two minutes gone on the clock.   

Moments later, Rocco Barbino fed Eddie Ansah a diagonal pass to the top of the area.

Ansah put the pass home as Eastern was in good shape at 2-0.  

But the crafty Panthers came firing back – nabbing a one-goal edge.

Aguilar scored on two free kicks midway through the first and converted on another score after collecting a ball in a scramble in front of the net to help Platt capture a 3-2 lead.

But with minutes to go before the half, the Kingstreeters drew even.

This time, it was a Fernandez to Barbino connection.

Fernandez made a long throw-in and Barbino knocked in a hard ground shot to tie things up at 3-3.  

Then the Lancers went ahead just before the half (3:30) when Ledio Thanasi sent a cross to a cutting Barbino who scored his second goal of the showdown as the Kingstreeters grabbed a 4-3 lead going into the halftime recess.

“It was a crazy first half as Platt pushed a lot of players forward and Aguilar hit two top-class free kicks,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet.  “We withstood the storm and asserted our wing play to spread them out and open holes in their defense in the second half.”

Sanchez-Barreto opened the second half scoring with 32:38 to play, getting an assist from Ansah and collected a second score 61 seconds later.

Off another assist by Ansah, Sanchez-Barreto scored again to push the Eastern edge out to 6-3.

Ansah notched a score of his own after Lucas Tylicki found him angling to goal, helping the visiting aggression to a 7-3 lead with 15:49 showing on the clock. 

Platt made it 7-4 on an own goal with 14:03 left but Tylicki had a response.

He closed out the scoring at 3:05 on a solid strike after Barbino sent him a through ball as Eastern surged in front 8-4 – eventually seizing the match.

Eastern’s goalies, Peyton Cummings (five saves) and Connor Murtaugh (one save) combined for six stops.

Platt’s also used two keepers as Gabriel Dushi (five) and Dylan Polick (four) had a total of nine saves but were under fire from the start. 

The Lancers host Berlin Thursday at 6 p.m. from Alumni Field.

After winning their first two matches, the Redcoats have gone 0-2-1 and will have their hands full on Thursday against the Kingstreeters. 

Bristol Eastern Boys Soccer – CCC South Showdown 

BRISTOL EASTERN 8, PLATT 4 

from Platt High School, Meriden

Scoring                          1 2 – F 

Bristol Eastern (4-1)    4 4 – 8 

Platt (2-4)                      3 1 – 4

Individual Scoring – First Half

– Liam Sanchez-Barreto (Bristol Eastern) 

– Eddie Ansah (Bristol Eastern)

– Angel Aguilar (Platt, three straight goals)

– Rocco Barbino (Bristol Eastern)

– Rocco Barbino (Bristol Eastern)

*Eastern led 4-3 at the half

Individual Scoring – Second Half 

– Sanchez-Barreto (Bristol Eastern) 

– Sanchez-Barreto (Bristol Eastern)

– Ansah (Bristol Eastern)

– Own Goal (Platt)

– Lucas Tylicki (Bristol Eastern)

Saves: Peyton Cummings (Bristol Eastern), 5; Connor Murtaugh (Bristol Eastern), 1; Gabriel Dushi (Platt) 5; Dylan Polick (Platt), 4.

Records: Bristol Eastern 4-1 overall; Platt 2-4