With the student section decked out in all pink, the Gloucester Boys Soccer team pulled out a hard-fought win against rival Danvers with a final score of 3-2.
Wesdra Silva had a good kick in the first half that made it all the way to the net. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the Danvers’ defense and was brought back up the field. Cole Ciolino and Captain Benjamin Watts had good passes back and forth, keeping the ball away from Danvers as much as they could. Dylan Smith and Matheus DeFreitas had good dribbling throughout the game. Silva had a good spinning kick to move the ball up the field as well as Watts with a hard kick to the Danvers’ defense.
Captain Gino Tripoli had a strong kick up the field to his teammates near the Falcons’ goal. There was a good save from Dylan Rochford at the line to keep the ball in play to pass up to Tripoli at the net. Andrw Fahim won a fight for the ball against a Danvers player, and DeFreitas had a good header.
Danvers played aggressively throughout the game, tripping and pushing the Gloucester offense and defense. Gloucester soon got a shootout opportunity, which Tripoli took. He smashed the ball to the back of the net to make the score 1-0. Goalie Stefano Numerosi made a diving catch at the net to save a goal. Tripoli had a breakaway up the turf from the 20-yard line and into scoring position. Paone had a good slide tackle against a Danvers forward.
The Falcons tied the game up after a goalie fumble at Gloucester’s net. Captain Domenic Paone and Tripoli had a good goal attempt at the Danvers’ net that was grabbed by the Falcon goalie. Soon after, Paone scored on a hard-kicked ball with 30 minutes left in the second half to make the score 2-1.
The Falcons were very aggressive for the entire match, seen tripping or pushing the Gloucester players both unintentionally and intentionally. Watts and Captain Brendan Anderson were aggressive right back to them, fighting to get and keep possession of the ball. Rochford got yellow-carded by the referees soon afterward. Tripoli had a hard pass up to Paone after getting another breakaway up the field. DeFreitas had good dribbling to fake out Danvers to get closer to their net. Marcio DePaula had a save right at the line and had a hard kick up to his teammate.
Not only were the Danvers players aggressive, but their fans were as well. Danvers scored with six minutes left in the game. Numerosi had a good tip on the ball before a Danvers player hit it into the post. The ball bounced back in just the right spot for the Falcons to kick it across the net to score.
With tensions high, Gloucester fans were on the edge of their seats, praying the Fishermen could make something happen. Paone made a good shot on net that Danvers took out of the box. Everyone was wondering if the boys could come back to win it. Luckily, Tripoli scored an amazing shot ball in the opposite corner to end the game with a final score of 3-2.
“We could’ve played ten times better than we did.” Captain Tripoli said, who finished the night with 2 out of the 3 goals for the team. “We beat them by 3-2; We only won by one. They lost to a team we easily beat. I say that we need to get back to work and come back harder.”
With the win, the Fishermen stay undefeated this season. The team plays Swampscott on September 13th at 4:30 at Newell Stadium. Come support the boys on Wednesday as they hope to add another win to their record!
