Boys Soccer: Cranston East runs into the Smithfield Buzzsaw

Cranston East, still looking for its first win, faced off against division co-leader Smithfield in a Division II boys soccer match on Tuesday evening. The Thunderbolts could not keep up with the speed of the Sentinels and were outplayed in all facets of the game and Smithfield cruised to a 10-0 victory. 

Smithfield dominated the ball throughout the first half, holding possession ninety-percent of the time. The passing and quickness of the Sentinels was far superior to that of Cranston East, leading to an early four-goal barrage by Smithfield. Kelechi Agwunobi assisted on the first two goals scored by Timothy Cabral and Alex Bedrosian respectively. Bedrosian would find the net two more times before the twenty minute mark, assisted by Captain Brett Watson on both goals. 

Cranston East kept the Sentinels off the board for the rest of the half, but couldn't muster much of a counterattack and went without a shot for the duration of the half.

Cranston East had an early opportunity in the second half off a Sentinels' miscue, but Marcos Figueroa missed wide right on his point blank chance. 

From there it was all Smithfield as they scored six times on their way to a convincing 10-0 victory. Timothy Cabral added his second goal in the 44th minute and Kelechi Aqwunobi added a goal to his two assists in the 46th minute. The dynamic duo of Watson and Bedrosian would collaborate once again for the third time, as Bedrosian scored his fourth goal of the match, putting an exclamation point of their dominant performance.

Smithfield is now 12-0-2 on the season and will likely face off against Tolman for the regular season league championship next Wednesday. 

Cranston East drops to 0-11-1 on the season and seemed very dejected after the blowout defeat. It's been a tough road for the young Thunderbolts squad, which has included several double digit defeats. Cranston East tied Hope a week ago in a game which they dominated, but lost their lead in dramatic fashion with a late in-box handball penalty in extra time. 

In conversations with Cranston East Coach Victor Raposo throughout the year, he's been pleased with some of the improvements that his team has made, but they just haven't shown up in the win column. Facing a great team like the Sentinels, the Thunderbolts took a step back and slipped back into some of their old habits after they were down a few goals. At times they lacked hustle and intensity and their passing was poor throughout. 

Raposo stated after the game that he wants to apologize to everyone that has to do with Cranston East Soccer including fans, teachers, and students for the loss of this season and hopes that they'll be able to kick it up a notch next season.

The 'Bolts have four games remaining and hope that some of their hard work will translate to the win column.