MHS Boys Soccer Gets Stunned in Season Opener

A deadly dose of Eric Buck and Pietro Guadiano certainly made the Milton High boys soccer team's season opener a long and painful one.

Guadiano led the way, recording a hat trick and Guadiano added a pair as Brookline handed the Wildcats a tough 6-0 defeat to Brookline in Tuesday night's season opener at Brooks Field. With the loss, the Wildcats fell to 0-1 while Brookline kicked off the season at 1-0.

Even in defeat, coach Mike Madden was quite pleased with his team's efforts.

"We knew that it was going to be a tough match-up going in, but the guys battled out there and gave it a great effort,'' said Madden. "We were well aware that Brookline was a loaded team coming in. They had a great season last year, and they have a lot of returning players. We started off well against them, but they just had a couple of scorers that were really explosive off the ball."

In the opening minutes, the Wildcats delivered several promising opportunities as Allen Yongo maneuvered around a defender, dished off a pass to Nick Savage, whose shot sailed well wide off the far post.

Minutes later, the Wildcats generated another scoring opportunity as Luke Pugsley dodged a pair of defenders at the middle of the field and centered a cross to Skyler Abrams, who misconnected on the attempted one-touch.

"We came out a little tentative out of the box,'' said Warrior coach Jeff Katz. "From the 25th minute on, we played well, but we let them (Milton) create several scoring opportunities and that could've changed the flow of the game early on."

Despite a small glimmer of hope, it didn't take long for the Warriors to ignite their scoring attack. With 29:48 remaining, Buck recorded his first goal of the contest. Guadiano, driving down the left side, crossed a pass to Buck, who fired a shot past Wildcat goalkeeper, Nate Breslin, to the top corner for the 1-0 lead.

Continuing to apply pressure in the offensive zone, the Warriors created multiple scoring chances as Buck and Guadiano established several crosses, but were deflected away by Wildcat defenders in the box.

"Our defense played hard, and we got some great effort from all of our guys,'' said Madden. "The first game of the season is always tough, and we need to make some improvements. Our goal is to win our share of games and to qualify for the tournament."

Clinging to a 1-0 lead, the Warriors erupted with two goals in a span of 1:36. With 13:18 remaining, the Warriors extended the lead to 2-0. Off a through ball from Tito Curran, Guadiano maneuvered around two Wildcat defenders and whisked a low shot past a diving Breslin short side.

Moments later, the Warriors capitalized on another opportunity en route to a 3-0 edge. Off a pass on the right side by Travis James, Guadiano dashed down the right side and ignited a shot past a stunned Breslin, top corner with 11:42 left.

Capping the first half surge, the Warriors established a commanding 4-0 lead with 2:29 left. Off another through ball from Luca DellaRosa, Buck stormed down the right side and launched a toe poke that eluded the diving Breslin, top corner.

"They came out and took it to us,'' said Madden. "Brookline is an explosive team and Guadiano and Buck can really come off the ball. Even though we lost 6-0, the effort was definitely there and there are still plenty of great things to come away from this."

Early in the second half, the Warriors continued to pressure the Wildcat defense, as Teddy Rounds scored, increasing the lead to 5-0. On a through ball from Jacob Ebbs, Rounds delivered a toe poke that eluded Breslin far right corner with 36:22 left.

Only three minutes later, Guadiano sealed his hat trick with 33:26 remaining. Off an odd player rush, James crossed a pass to Guadiano, who one-touched a shot past a diving Breslin into the back of the net for the 6-0 cushion.

"We had some great efforts by our younger guys, and (Skyler) Abrams had a great game,'' said Madden. "We're just trying to take things one step at a time, and it's going to get better."

The Wildcats will return to action on Friday afternoon at Norwood.