By Michael Letendre
In the rematch between the Bristol Central and Bristol Eastern boys soccer programs on Thursday evening, the Rams were able to draw first blood.
However, the Lancers answered over second half play as the team’s settled on a 1-1 stalemate in a CCC South confrontation from Alumni Field on the campus of BEHS.
It was a critical tie for Central (6-8-1) as the squad punched its state tournament ticket.
“It’s a lot about styles of play,” said Central coach Nate Jandreau. “I thought in the first [BC/BE] game, Eastern did a really good job in playing their way and kind of not making us play that way. Tonight, I thought we definitely didn’t even it out, but we got the discrepancy and the difference in styles was closer to being even.”
“And I think if we could have maybe flipped that a little bit, we could have probably scratched [a win] across.”
Eastern ended the season at an outstanding 8-4-4 and returned to the postseason.
“This year, 8-4-4, it’s a pretty good year,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “The seniors all contributed.”
After dropping a tough 1-0 decision to East Hartford on October 10, the Kingstreeters went 2-0-4 to end regular season competition – tying their last three games in a row.
“We work hard,” said Sweet. “We’ve been in adverse situations. We’ve been down. You know, coach [Bunty] Ray spoke to them at halftime as you can guess, and we played much harder in the second half.”
It was physical early as Rafael Antonio took a stab at one about ninety seconds in from 25 yards out, but Eastern keeper Peyton Cummings quickly snuffed the ball out and the game was quickly afoot.
And that Central pressure paid off when Tom Pirog’s long throw-in saw the ball go into the Eastern goal box, from left to right, and on the far side, Miles Fisher headed a slick shot that snuck by Cummings as the visitors went up 1-0 just 3:33 into game play.
“I think we had two or three [good throw-ins] right before that and the ball was landing,” said Jandreau. “And so, I’m screaming my head off over here just to make an effort on the ball. You just can’t let that kind of a beautiful pass hit the ground twice in some cases. Finally, I thought we got to it early and that’s what gave us the goal.”
The Lancers then enjoyed three corner kicks within a 70 second span but could not find pay dirt.
Off an Eastern sprint, a one-on-one saw Central keeper Harry Ross bolt out of the goal to boot the ball out of harm’s way with 30:52 left to go in the first half.
At 24:48, Eastern appeared to have the tying goal scored from the far side of the goal but an errant horn caused confusion and the score was disallowed — under protest by Sweet and Ray.
The Lancers attacked the Rams’ net moments later as Eddie Ansah led the charge, but the defense made a couple critical stops with just over halfway to go in the first.
Soon after, Ansah was hurt off an Eastern attack and left the match with 19:37 left before the half.
And off the direct kick, Ross made another save as Central’s 1-0 push was holding.
A Central throw-in turned into a corner kick that Tom Pirog eventually tried to get through a crowd, and it appeared Oscar Kuzniar scored a second goal but another offsides nullified the shot as the game was getting chippy with 14 minutes to go in the period.
“I have to give Central credit,” said Sweet. “Their feet were quick, got to a lot of balls.”
Ansah came back with 13:50 to go and off an Eastern kick in from the right side, Ross chased down the ball again.
With less than 10 minutes to go in the half, another Tom Pirog throw-in was stopped by the Eastern defense and the 1-0 score remained between the squads.
Palma was aggressive throughout the evening while Central’s defense, with Mason Allan, Mark Palamar, Riley Caudill and Tom Pirog making several stops, kept things scoreless and a BE corner kick with 6:00 to go in the half was met by Ross.
“I thought each team had periods of the game where they kind of dominated,” said Ross. “At the beginning of the first half, we played well and then [Eastern] did at the end of the period. And the end of the first half, we started playing well again but then after that goal for Eastern, we kind of took our foot off the gas.”
“But at the end of the game, we got it going again.”
With 60 seconds showing on the clock before the half, Cummings was in a footrace with Palma as the keeper blocked the attempt to keep the game a one-goal spread through the halftime break.
The aggressive play continued into the second forty, a Central player earned a yellow card five minutes in as Eastern was looking to tie the event up.
A Rio Fernandez throw-in with 33:33 left saw Ross come out and challenge again, but the ball got by the keeper and on an eventual corner kick, Central did not allow a game-tying score.
And then a long looping ball found Rocco Barbino at the left side of the net as he headed a ball by Ross and all of a sudden, the contest was a 1-1 affair with 30:14 remaining in regulation.
“Both teams had trouble heading the ball, but the goal came from Rocco heading it in,” said Sweet. “But heading the ball across the board was not good. But I can’t complain.”
Two minutes later, Central earned a corner kick but the shot was blasted into outer space.
It went back and forth from there as Eastern sent a rocket or two towards Ross but that second goal remained elusive.
“I just liked our second half,” said Sweet. “I liked our effort. They know what it’s all about here. The Southington coach said the other day when we played, after we finished with a 0-0 tie, he said ‘we knew it. It would be Eastern soccer’ and that’s what it is. We push, we push, we push and that’s it.”
The Lancers earned another corner kick at the 21:45 mark of the second half but Ross stopped another laser to keep things at 1-1.
“Coming up here and playing against a team that’s got eight wins and is in the tournament, those guys [at Eastern] play hard,” said Jandreau. “And for my guys to be there at the end, and the last few minutes I thought was our play, it’s means we’re in shape and ready to go and we battled a really good team.”
“I’m really proud of the kind of warrior effort that a lot of these guys gave.”
Ansah made his best attempt with 17:01 remaining as he steadied the ball in the middle of the pitch, but his shot just curved off to the left and out of bounds.
Fernandez missed a follow up attempt as the collar was getting tighter with 15:00 left.
And then it was Cummings coming out of the box with 13:20 showing on the clock, deflecting the ball away from danger.
Every chance Ross was taking, running away from the net like a madman, paid off to keep the stalemate going deep into the fray.
A give-and-go by Riley Caudill to Palma just missed with 5:20 to play but Central was invading Eastern’s side with zest.
A quick Eastern counter was stopped by Ross as the play went back and forth over the final ticks of the clock.
Central’s pressure paid off with a corner kick as Kuzniar’s kick to Allan was drilled directly at Cummings and saved with 1:50 left.
And after eighty hard fought minutes on the pitch, the teams settled on a 1-1 draw.
“It gets us into the tournament,” said Ross of the tie. “We needed it although a win would have been better.”
Bristol City Series Boys Soccer – CCC South Tilt
BRISTOL EASTERN 1, BRISTOL CENTRAL 1
from Alumni Field, Bristol Eastern High School
Scoring 1 2 – F
Bristol Central (6-8-1) 1 0 – 1
Bristol Eastern (8-4-4) 0 1 – 1
Individual Scoring – First Half
*Miles Fischer (Bristol Central), from Tom Pirog, 3:33
Individual Scoring – Second Half
*Rocco Barbino (Bristol Eastern), 49:46
Records: Bristol Eastern 8-4-4 overall; Bristol Central 6-7-1.
All TBE readers, supporters and donors
The Bristol Edition will be limiting the number of stories non-members and free readers may access each week. This decision is based on our financial projections and, most certainly, to remind people that TBE is serious about providing accurate, timely and thorough reporting for Bristol. To do this we have devised a financial support structure that makes unlimited access extremely affordable, beginning with a $6 monthly donation.
- Non-members will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Free readers and people who have subscribed by email will be able to access four (4) articles per week.
- Donors and financial supporters will have unlimited access as long as they log in.
Note: Donors may have to contact TBE if they find they are being limited, since we will need to set up a membership account for you. Email editor@bristoledition.org for instructions. Sorry for any inconvenience. People with financial difficulties may write editor@bristoledition.org to be considered for free access.
