By Michael Letendre
Senior Night was a successful jaunt for the Bristol Eastern boys soccer team on Monday as the locals wrangled up a 2-0 victory over Plainville in a CCC South showdown.
The bout, contested from Alumni Field in Bristol, was a back and forth first half while Eastern’s offense churned much better over second period play and that’s when the scoring commenced.
“In some places, we were too passive,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “In the middle of the field, we were too passive. And we didn’t have a middle of the field. We decided to split. We then decided to put a little more pressure on and get it outside,”
Over second half play, just like the first time around against Plainville (2-7-3), two goals by the Lancers (7-4-1) doomed the Blue Devils.
Eastern was the aggressor right off the bat and a quick Plainville incursion into the BE goal was snuffed out by the defense, led by the big man in the middle, Rio Fernandez, and outstanding keeper Peyton Cummings.
Plainville was pesky with Cole Jones, Evan Giannini, Zarell David Aiden Benn and Jamison McGinnis all attempting to drive from outside-in for shots.
“I thought Plainville moved without the ball well,” said Sweet. “They just didn’t have a finisher.”
Eastern’s defense continued to keep those offensive players wide when the ball ventured near the goal box.
On the flip side, Eastern’s Eddie Ansah nearly tallied a goal with a blast from the left side of the box with 29:43 left to go in the first period that keeper Ian Bravado was just able to snuff out.
With 24:10 showing in the clock, the Blue Devils missed on a slick 1-2 punch as McGinnis played a perfect ball to Braeden Tiscia as Eastern goalie Peyton Cummings was a bit out of position.
But the tap went wide left, and the scoreless stalemate continued.
“They’ve gotten better even though their record isn’t great,” said Sweet of Plainville. “I thought they did a nice job on us.”
The Blue Devils kept their foot on the gas, earning a corner kick with 17:20 remaining in the half but the clever Cummings swiped the ball out of danger.
“Our defense, they compacted for the most part,” said Sweet. “Once in a while, we stabbed at the ball, but I thought we were pretty compact. I’m happy.”
Plainville continued the assault deep into the first forty but just couldn’t find the perfect combination while Eastern’s offense was one foot away from finding a goal-scoring drive.
Ansah was everywhere on the pitch, per his usual, and with 12:24 left to go before the break, a Plainville foul put the Lancers in striking distance of the net, but Liam Sanchez-Barreto’s attempt was kicked over the goal.
A minute later, Sanchez-Barreto made a slick steal, and his shot went a bit too far to the right, but all that effort was slowly making an impact.
Eastern was firing lasers up and over the Plainville net deep into the first tilt while defender Jeshua Portillo played extreme well on the back line for the Kingstreeters.
Ansah made a steal with 2:40 left, starting an attack on the Plainville goal, but he was tripped from behind, resulting in a foul, and Eastern had the ball at the 25-yard line.
Lucas Tylicki took the kick, but the Plainville keeper flushed the ball away and Eastern could not score on the rebound.
Leslie Adzo made a late steal for the Lancers and when the halftime horn sounded, the teams – just like the first match-up this season from Plainville – were deadlocked in a 0-0 heat.
That meant another stern halftime lecture from long time Eastern coach Bunty Ray – who could motivate a desert to suddenly produce water.
Plainville opened the second half with a quick foul shot as Jones booted in a perfect cross that went through and out of the goal area.
And just 2:24 into the new half, Eastern notched the first goal of the match.
A through ball found Ansah in the middle and the race was on as Bravado charged out of the net.
The ball deflected off the keeper, finding the feet of Landon Kraut.
And Kraut, steadied and shot the ball from the left side, crisscrossing it into the net as Eastern nabbed a huge 1-0 push.
“Landon Kraut got the goal,” said Sweet about his senior forward. “I told him [after the game], he did exactly what he does in practice. It came from the outside. As the ball came out to him on the edge, he’s very confident with the ball, very steady, and he placed it.”
“We had a couple of shots where guys just wound up on the ball and you probably saw it circle the Earth once already, but Landon was confident.”
Later in the fray, Eastern’s Rocco Barbino, taking in a long goal kick in from Cummings, attacked from the outside with 28:17 remaining in the game, made a slick pass inside and Ansah was just one step away from crushing in an insurance goal, but the attempt never materialized.
“Eddie has done so well against Plainville over the years,” said Sweet of Ansah. “He played hard. He’s been a good leader.”
Eastern’s Hunter Scott showed hustle over second half play and that meant Plainville’s forwards weren’t receiving the ball and with under 20:00 to play, it was still a 1-0 contest.
With less than 14:00 remaining in regulation, Bravado was out of the box again as Eastern missed out on a possible score and two follow up corner kicks did not connect.
Fernandez and Sam Lamar were playing excellent defense late and another corner kick nearly saw Fernandez flash a ball into the goal as Plainville was under fire with time drizzling off the clock.
With less than eight minutes left, Anash nearly put in a shot via a bit of a back kick, but the ball was nearly fully cleared.
Seconds later, Barbino slipped a ball over to Ansah on the left side of the net as he drilled a header that looked destined for the left goal post.
But the ball skipped by Bravado, and it slinked into the net for an insurance goal by Ansah – pushing the Plainville deficit out to 2-0 with 7:41 left.
“It was a nice combination,” said Sweet of the second goal. “It was Rocco to Eddie. I thought that was a good combination.”
Plainville’s Mario Cruz had a chance with 2:50 left but passed it off instead – one of the best scoring chances for the visitors that evening.
And in the end, the Kingstreeters were 2-0 winners on senior night.
“Hopefully, we’re getting better,” said Sweet. “We’ll see. We have Wethersfield coming here on Thursday.”
NOTES…Eastern celebrated Senior Night against Plainville, honoring Landon Kraut, Aidan Collins, Rio Fernandez, Peyton Cummings, Liam Sanchez, Eddie Ansah and Rocco Barbino along with their parents.
Bristol Eastern Boys Soccer – CCC South Showdown
BRISTOL EASTERN 2, PLAINVILLE 0
from Alumni Field, BEHS
Scoring 1 2 – F
Bristol Eastern (7-4-1) 0 2 – 2
Plainville (2-7-3) 0 0 – 0
Individual Scoring – First Half
*None
Individual Scoring – Second Half
*Landon Kraut (Bristol Eastern), 42:24
*Eddie Ansah (Bristol Eastern), 72:19
Saves: Ian Bravado (Plainville) 7; Peyton Cummings (Bristol Eastern), 6.
Records: Bristol Eastern 7-4-1 overall; Plainville 2-7-3.
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