Entering Friday afternoon's rivalry game, both the Cranston East and Cranston West boys soccer teams were winless. The game was played at Hope Road's Athletic Complex and West exploded for three goals in the second half, en route to their 4-1 victory.
West lit up the scoreboard four minutes into the game when Pat McAssey delivered a through ball to senior Ian Chalemers who had made a far post run and buried it into the back of the net.
The Falcons had a golden opportunity to take a 2-0 lead heading into halftime, but a controversial call ended their scoring chance. Junior Chris Burrows dribbled the ball down the left sideline and cut inside, beating his defender. Burrows headed towards the Thunderbolts goal but the referee ended the break-away opportunity by blowing the whistle, signaling the end of the first half.
Find out what's happening in Cranstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
It was a controversial call because referees are schooled to allow a scoring opportunity to play itself out and wait until the ball is cleared to blow the whistle.
Chalmers picked up his second goal of the game eight minutes into the second half. He cut the ball inside from the left wing and fired the shot, giving West a 2-0 lead.
Find out what's happening in Cranstonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
East struck back only a minute later when freshman Dennis Vasquez blasted a shot from 30 yards out and chipped it over West keeper, Jonas Sullivan's, head and into the back of the net.
The Falcons began to take control of the game and dominated possession for the majority of the second half. Freshman Hagop Taraksian placed a through ball up the middle of the field to junior Chris Burrows, who buried home the breakaway opportunity, padding the lead to 3-1.
Burrows added another goal two minutes later, when the ball was bouncing in the box after a West corner kick. The Falcons won the game 4-1 and East remains winless on the season.
Bill Williamson, Falcons head coach, talked about a strategical move the team made. "One change we made was pushing the outside midfielder up the field more to create more numbers on offense," he said.
"Getting this win hopefully will revive us and motivate the team," he added.
Victor Raposa, East's head coach, spoke about one area that needs improvement and the positives he can take away from the game. "We need to improve on our shooting," he said, "I am proud of my kids and our communication on defense was better today."
