By Michael Letendre
MONROE – Returning back to the state tournament picture, the Bristol Eastern boys soccer team – ranked 20th in the Class L fray this season – took on No. 13 Masuk in first round action from Monroe on Tuesday afternoon.
But the Panthers were able to scoop up a 3-1 win over the Lancers, forging ahead in state tournament play.
Eastern ended its campaign at a more than credible 8-5-4 over a bounce-back campaign.
Masuk improved to 11-4-2 but had to hold on as the Kingstreeters were the first to put a tally on the scoreboard while the home team was forced to play catchup.
Nearly four minutes in, the Panthers were called for a handball foul in the penalty area on a Leslie Adzo shot.
Liam Sanchez-Barreto was able to generate his 10th goal of the year on the ensuing penalty kick – making it a 1-0 contest with 36:07 remaining in the first period.
From there, Masuk was able to add tying and go-ahead goals to the board to seize the win.
The Lancers moved the ball well over the first 10 minutes, but Masuk’s midfielders began moving the ball quickly to Eastern’s final third.
And those drives eventually lead to a scoring payoff.
One such rush at 23:59 of the first period brought about a trip in the Eastern goal area as Tristan Pike scored on a penalty shot to tie things up at 1-1.
The goal fueled the Panthers’ attack, earning much of the possession in a span of 15 minutes after the tally.
With 14:41 to play in the half, Kasper Murzinski took advantage of a poor Lancers’ clearance and scored the go-ahead goal – putting the home on top by a 2-1 push.
“Masuk’s one-on-one players were sharp today and put us on our heels in the first half,” said Eastern coach Bill Sweet. “We played more direct to by-pass their dangerous midfielders in the second half and put them on their heels. Unfortunately, they bent, but didn’t break and we couldn’t put in our chances.”
Trailing by two out of intermission, Eastern pushed the ball in Masuk’s goal area and outshot the squad 8-4 over second half play.
However, that game-tying goal simply never materialized for the visiting aggression.
Eastern either missed wide or high on attempts while goalie Connor Kehlenbach made serval clutch saves to keep it a one-goal cushion.
A strong part of the Lancers’ attack was the long throw-ins by Rio Fernandez as the big man tossed the ball all over the field in an attempt to notch a game-tying score.
With Eastern pushing everyone forward late in the showdown, Masuk scored its third goal of the game with twelve seconds left – pushing the Lancers’ deficit out to 3-1.
The locals fell by two goals in the end as both keepers played well.
Eastern keeper Peyton Cummings scooped in seven saves while Kehlenbach made eight stops to fuel the home program.
“It was a tough loss, but especially for a team that all year fought to the end,” said Sweet about Eastern. “Much of the credit goes to the seven seniors who navigated through Covid cohorts as freshmen, rough schedules in their sophomore and junior year, and then they led the team to an 8-5-4 record.”
“They stood up to numerous challenges and didn’t back down.”
Masuk goes on to face No. 4 Platt Tech on the road in second round play on Thursday.
Eastern graduates Cummings, Sanchez-Barreto, Fernandez, Eddie Ansah, Rocco Barbino, Aiden Collins, and Landon Kraut – an excellent group of seniors that represented its school and city of Bristol extremely well.
Bristol Eastern Boys Soccer – Class L Showdown
No.13 MASUK 3, No. 20 BRISTOL EASTERN 1
from Masuk High School, Monroe
Scoring 1 2 – F
No. 20 Bristol Eastern (8-5-4) 1 0 – 1
No. 13 Masuk (11-4-2) 2 1 – 3
Individual Scoring – First Half
*Liam Sanchez-Barreto (Bristol Eastern), 3:53
*Tristan Pike (Masuk), 16:01
*Kasper Murzinski (Masuk), 25:19
Individual Scoring – Second Half
*Ricky Block (Masuk), 79:48
Saves: Peyton Cummings (Bristol Eastern), seven; Connor Kehlenbach (Masuk), eight.
Records: Masuk 11-4-2 overall; Bristol Eastern 8-5-4.
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