Boys Soccer: Falcons Second Half Surge Hunts Down Huskies

It was a rain-filled game on Friday night at Cranston Stadium. Throughout much of the boys soccer match between Mount Hope and Cranston West it was raining. There were long periods during the game where it was a downpour. The Falcons outscored the Huskies 4-0 in the second half, and won the game 5-2.

John Ryan gave Mount Hope the lead two minutes into the game. Ryan received the ball in the 6 yard box and chipped it over Jonas Sullivan's head, and into the back of the net.

Cranston West had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the 21st minute. Junior Chris Burrows had a breakaway, but the Huskies goalie, Joshua Zina, deflected the ball and made the save. Burrows was determined to even the score and got another chance a minute later. He had another breakaway opportunity and did not miss this time.

Both teams had their chances to take the lead and the ball was consistently moving up and down the field. However, neither team was able to take advantage of their scoring chances throughout most of the first half.

With only two minutes left in the half, the Huskies gained some momentum heading into the halftime break. Junior Trevor Sousa's header was saved by Sullivan, off a Huskies corner kick, but Sousa buried home the rebound to give Mount a 2-1 lead.

The Falcons came out with high intensity and energy to start the second half and it paid off. Sophomore Austin Raposa took a corner kick and co-captain Koye Idowu scored on a header and the game was tied five minutes into the second half.

Ten minutes later, West took the lead off of a free kick from midfield. Senior Jarrod Terry took the kick and Chris Burrows ran onto the ball in the six yard box and scored his second of three goals on the night.

James Williamson, the Falcons head coach, spoke about his team's strong second half. "We stayed focused on the stuff we are capable of doing and defensively we shut them down," he said.

In the 66th minute, the Falcons scored one of their best goals of the season. Freshman Jasson Johnson-Morais began the play with a through ball to Idowu and sophomore Nick Montaquila buried home the rebound opportunity after Idowu's shot was saved. West now led 4-2. Burrows picked up the hat trick with another goal off of a free kick by Terry with about five minutes left.

Mount Hope drops to 4-6-2 and Cranston West's 5-2 victory improves their record to 2-9-1.

"We have gotten healthy over the last two weeks which has helped us get more consistent," the coach said, "Consistency in training leads to consistency in games and better play." Williamson has been able to simulate live game action during practices because the kids he wants to play certain positions, are now healthy enough to practice.