Boys Soccer: Falcons defeat Thunderbolts in Rivalry Game

With both teams out of the playoff picture in Division II, the City Cup game on Sunday night at Cranston Stadium was highly anticipated by the Falcons and the Thunderbolts. The passing and speed of the Falcons, in particular Chris Burrows, was too much for Cranston East, and West took the Cup 4-1.

Cranston Stadium was a packed house on a brisk Sunday night for the Division II Boys Soccer showdown. The squads were both flying around the field out of the gate, playing with a lot of intensity.

"The pep talk in the beginning normally is you trying to pump them up and motivate them, but honestly tonight we were just trying to reel them in. And you're trying to keep them level-headed and focused. And they were focused. And they really put it to them. I was happy with the way they started," Cranston West coach James Williamson said.

And the Cranston West intensity turned into a Chris Burrows breakaway in the first minute, which he netted, electrifying the West crowd and giving the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.

West kept the pressure on throughout the first half, possessing the ball for a majority of the half.

But East created several good counterattacks, the first of which was in the fifth minute when Kyle Correia whiffed on his bicycle kick attempt off a Dennis Vasquez free kick. Vasquez, the freshmen, lead the East counterattacks with help from Chris Fernandes, but the Thunderbolts came up empty for the entire first half.

Koye Idowu and Chris Burrows kept the 'Bolts on their heels throughout the first forty minutes, as the Falcons scored three more times in the half. Pat McAssey found Jarrod Terry on the corner kick in the 12th minute for the second goal of the game. And Chris Burrows continued to light up the stat sheet in the 19th minute when he found Ian Chalmers in the 19th minute with a beautiful pass for the third goal of the game. Burrows then finished one off himself six minutes later to give the Falcons a commanding 4-0 lead that stood until halftime.

West dominated possession in the second half, but East picked up its defense, not allowing another goal. 

Both teams did pepper the crossbar in the second half, but no goal was scored until Dennis Vasquez found Chris Fernandes in the 70th minute, to get Cranston East on the board at 4-1. The whistle blew with the scoreboard reading the aforementioned score and the Falcons took the City Cup.

Chris Burrows grabbed MVP honors for the Falcons while carrying his team to their fourth victory of the season and the City Cup.

"We didn't have that great of a season, but City Cup was one of our main goals, and something that we could finally accomplish. We knew we had nothing to lose so this was everything to us. And we made the most of it," MVP Chris Burrows said.

Sarkis Harabedian was awarded MVP honors for his defensive play on the Cranston East side.

Cranston East has had a rough season, sporting a young squad, and remains winless. As far as the result goes, the Thunderbolts were obviously disappointed, but the team played hard and played with class.

"As far as the effort goes, I couldn't be happier. They kept their composure. This is the first time I've noticed in the four years I've been here, that Cranston West has gotten a red card and we haven't," Raposo said. (The Red Card he referred to was given to West player Pat McAssey in the second half.)

East will have two more chances to notch a win as they face off against Woonsocket on Tuesday for their final home game, and travel to Mount St. Charles on Friday to end their season.