By Michael Letendre

For the second straight city series bout, the girls soccer squad from Bristol Central dominated from the onset and in the end of crosstown warfare on Thursday evening, the Rams zipped up a 6-0 triumph over Bristol Eastern from Alumni Field.

Central (8-7 overall) scored twice over the first five minutes of play and simply never looked back.

“We had a very rough start to the season, put two goals in and they’ve been putting goals in ever since,” said Central coach Vicky Malick. “I couldn’t be prouder of them.”

On the flip side, Eastern (4-11-1) tried to rally after those two goals were scored but simply couldn’t respond.

“They capitalized early, took advantage. You’ve got to tip your cap” to Central said Eastern coach Scott Redman. “They outplayed us, took advantage of their opportunities early and often.”

And while the Rams were enjoying the spoils of an early lead, the Lancers tried to gamely hang around.

Just 2:46 in, Central was operating on Eastern’s side of the field as Francesca Amara — on the right side of the net — passed a quick ball to Madalyn Palamar who blasted the ball by keeper Hailey Beebe (nine saves) to make to a 1-0 game.

And then about 90 seconds later, it was Amara’s turn to drop in a goal.

From the left side, Amara lofted a shot about 20 yards out and when the ball crossed into the net, a 2-0 push followed just 4:24 in.

But there would be some fight by Eastern as it took a bit for the Rams to notch their third goal.

With 29:10 left in the half, it appeared Central was bound for another goal, but the Eastern defense headlined by Shannon Philippon, Corinne Sutula, Gabby Piendak and Alaina Joy while up front, Emma Stavens and Megan Krok tried to move the ball up field but to no avail.

The Eastern defense continued to hold firm as Central’s offense continued the onslaught deep into the first tilt.

However, over a four-minute stretch, the Rams notched two additional goals.

Amara added another goal just under the nine-minute mark, blasting in a shot from the left that rocketed up towards the right corner of the net and in.

Then with 5:00 left before intermission, freshman Sadie Greaves received a pass from Amara and slipped a ball by Beebe as Central led by a 4-0 push — the final score of the first half.

Central’s defense was top notched as keeper Oliver Louis and the defense, led by Abigail Hansen and Nicole Riemer, continued to turn away offenders to keep Eastern from scoring.

“Even when we started the season at 0-5, we never lost by more than two goals,” said Malick. “It is completely a testament to our defensive line of Abby, Nicole Riemer, Mya Santiago, Molly Greaves and then Kyla Browning, our holding middle. They’re able to stop a lot of that buildup play and allow us to move that ball back forward for a more offensive threat.”

But over the second 40, Eastern junior Maggie Kozikowski booted a ball over the Central net as the Lancers attempted to jumpstart their offense.

Minutes later, a Palamar/Amara connection just missed while Beebe continued to stop insurance tallies.

“When you’re under pressure all night long, it’s hard to continue to come up big time and time again,” said Redman of Beebe. “She did what she could. She was under fire all night, I think all season. She’s done a really good job of keeping us in games and being an absolutely hero back there.”

“There’s only so much she can do.”

Central just kept its foot on the gas while Eastern tried to tally a shot midway through the final stanza.

With 19 minutes to play, the Lancers were operating around the Central goal area but that first score remained elusive.

Ninety seconds later, Stavens jammed a shot into a crowd while Palamar kept firing rockets into the Eastern goal area.

Finally, off a Central corner kick, the ball was dropped into a crowd, a scrum ensued, and the ball was eventually kicked into the net by Hansen — playing in her final regular season city series showdown — to make it a 5-0 game with 10:43 remaining.

“It’s bittersweet because I was a big fan of her sister Lilly. And I’m a big fan of Abby,” said Malick of the Hansen girls over the years. “Abby is going off to play at Central Connecticut State University so we’re super excited to watch what she’s going to do on that field but it’s bittersweet because the Hansen’s are good eggs and I’m definitely going to miss them.”

And finally, one final Amara pass found senior Kaylynn Lapointe who kicked in the final score of the game with 1:36 remaining as Central’s 6-0 push was the final score of the match.

But Eastern pushed it to the end, falling by six goals as the final horn sounded.

“We started to build up a little bit,” said Redman. “We started to build up and create some chances. It’s the final creativity, we kind of lack that ability to get that last touch in to get that cross or shot off.”

“That’s been our struggle all year especially against good teams.”

Bristol City Series Girls Soccer – CCC South Showdown   

BRISTOL CENTRAL 6, BRISTOL EASTERN 0   

from Alumni Field, BEHS 

Halftime: Bristol Central 4-0 

Scoring                                1 2 – F   

Bristol Central (8-7)      4 2 – 6   

Bristol Eastern (4-11-1)   0 0 – 0 

Individual Scoring – First Half  

*Madalyn Palamar, 2:46

*Francesca Amara, 4:24

*Francesca Amara, 31:21

*Sadie Greaves, 35:00

Individual Scoring – Second Half   

*Abigail Hansen, 29:17

*Kaylynn LaPointe, 78:24

Records: Bristol Central 8-7 overall; Bristol Eastern 4-11-1.

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