Boys Soccer: Mounties Soar Past Falcons

Mount Saint Charles' execution on through balls and crosses led them to a 5-1 victory over Cranston West in a boys soccer match on Monday afternoon.

Ten minutes into the match, the Mounties got their home crowd pumped up when they took the lead. Senior Tim Stein crossed it from the left sideline on a line drive and Evan Traumuller received it inside the six yard box. He buried it into the back of the net for the first goal of the game.

About ten minutes later, another across from the left sideline by Stein found freshman Colin Berg in the penalty box. With the ball bouncing in the air he used his right shoulder and knocked it into the net off the far post, upping the lead to 2-0.

Cranston West was determined to cut into the lead and fight back. Only a minute after seeing their deficit increase, they struck back. Senior Jarrod Terry struck a free kick from just behind the midfield and co-captain Chris Burrows ran onto the ball inside the box. With the outside of his foot, he flicked it into the back of the net.

However, the Falcons momentum was short-lived. Only three minutes later, Mount increased the lead to 3-1. Junior Paolo Roche crossed the ball from the right corner and Stein's header scored the goal.

For the remainder of the game, the Mounties were in complete control. They constantly applied pressure on West's defense and dominated possession. The Falcons young team never gave up, but could not keep up with their opposition's explosive offense.

In a repeating pattern, they connected on another cross in the 34th minute.

"We work on it diligently every day in practice and it’s our gameplan," Mount's coach, Miles Henderson, said about their strategy of crossing the ball consistently.

Roche streaked down the right sideline and delivered the ball to senior Drew Lambert, who had made a great run to the far post. After he easily scored on a wide open net, the lead stood at 4-1.

In the beginning of the second half, the Mounties continued to control the pace of the game. Six minutes into the half, they scored the final goal of the game.

Stein delivered an excellent cross to junior Daniel Roche, who drilled it into the back of the net, giving Mount a 5-1 lead. Stein was the star of the game, finishing with three assists and one goal.

After the game, Henderson spoke volumes about Falcons coach James Williamson. "This is not the same team when we played them last, and it is a testament to James and their program," he said.

Henderson said the team made changes in order to control the midfield, where most games are won.

"We have switched our formation and it is much more midfield-based because the teams we lost to controlled the middle more than us," he said.

The new formation, starting with the defenders, is a 4-2-3-1. Four defenders play in a straight line, with two center backs and a left and right defender, there is one defensive midfielder, and one attacking midfielder in the alignment. The three midfielders ahead of the attacking midfielder are a straight line across (left midfielder, center, and right) and there is one striker.