Ferreira’s big kick lifts Wildcats over Southeastern, 1-0

Story and photos by Richard W Dionne Jr
Posted 9/18/18

The Westport soccer team won their first game of the season with a 1-0 win over Southeastern during a home game on Friday afternoon. The win evens their record at 1-1-1.

The lone goal came on an …

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Ferreira’s big kick lifts Wildcats over Southeastern, 1-0

Posted

The Westport soccer team won their first game of the season with a 1-0 win over Southeastern during a home game on Friday afternoon. The win evens their record at 1-1-1.

The lone goal came on an indirect kick just outside the box on the left side of the Southeastern goal at the 31 minute mark in the first half.

After the foul, both coaches were yelling to their players on the field to get into position. Wildcats senior center midfielder Roberto Ferreira stood by the ball and remained calm as he waited to take the indirect kick.

Southeastern formed a wall. Goalkeeper Walt Vien set up between the wall and the far post.

Westport lined up for a chip, when senior John Silva nonchalantly jogged through and touched the ball with his foot. An instant later Ferreira booted a rocket between the wall and the keeper for a goal.

Southeastern was shocked by the play.

“It was an indirect kick,” screamed Southeastern coach Nuno Sanchez.

“My friend John Silva came through and touched the ball with his foot,” said Roberto Ferreira. “We thought of the play in school today in case we had a close (indirect) free kick.”

“We haven’t practiced it once this year,” said Head Coach Chris Parker. “Those guys came up with it on their own. They are both seniors and are smart players. I knew they’d be able to work something out.”

“He squeaked a perfectly placed kick by the inside of their wall,” said coach Parker.

“I didn’t want to hit their wall. The ball would have bounced back out. If I kicked it far post, I felt that their goalkeeper would have come out and grabbed it. So I kicked it right in-between them. The keeper got a hand on it, but it still went in,” said Ferreira.

The Wildcats had several opportunities to extend their lead, consistently getting the ball through to senior Striker Alexander Dutra Africano, who blasted several shots on goal, only to be saved by Southeastern keeper Vien.

The wildcats were stout defensively.

“We’ve been good defensively all year. We have good depth on this team. We knew that Southern was a team with a lot of speed. They try and go direct, right over us and through us. Our defense was mindful of that and I thought they defended exceptionally well,” said coach Parker.

Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Holden recorded his first shutout.

“Tyler is playing great. The competition (between he and Dawson Dosvais for the keeper position) may have gave him the boot in the rear that he needed to up his game,” said coach Parker.

Holden had a lot of help from his four-player back-line led by center back Adam Charest.

“Adam is our defensive leader,” said coach Parker. “In our system he plays center back, a traditional sweeper role. It’s his job to clean anything up back there. He’s a big, strong, fast kid. And he does that job incredibly well.”

Sophomore defender Max Powers was called to fill in for senior Luke Parker who is out with an injury.

“He has been tremendous and filled in really well,” said coach Parker.

The team is led by their three captains Ferreira, Dutra Africano and Dosvais.

“They are all tremendous players. They know the system. It’s like having assistant coaches out there on the field,” said coach Parker.

“Alex is a workhorse. He’s super fast,” said coach Parker. “His foot skills have improved a lot from last year. He’s more in control and he’s giving defenses fits this year. He’s one of those guys that once he gets one goal, they are just going to keep falling in,” coach Parker said.

“In the first few games we started using a 4-5-1 (diamond formation). Five center midfielders all stacked in the middle, with four defenders, back, and myself up front,” said Dutra Africano.

With the diamond formation, Coach Parker is looking for Dutra Africano to score a lot of goals this year.

“There’s a little pressure, I’ve always struggled with scoring goals. But I have played a lot of offense and hope to score a lot of goals this year,” he said.

“Last year he scored a few goals. This year since it’s his senior year, I feel that Alex is going to take a big step,” said Ferreira. “In the summer he was working every day. Always working so we can make states (tournament).”

Dutta Africano, Dosvais and Ferreira have been playing together four years.

“I’ve been playing with Dawson and Alex basically since we’ve been born,” said Ferreira. “We have this chemistry. I don’t have to look, I always know where they are going to be.”

Ferreira called the team cheer before the game.

“One, two, three family,” they cheered as they came together around the coach after the victory.

“Everyone on this team are my brothers and I’d do anything for them,” said Ferreira.

After a three win season in his first year as head coach in 2017, coach Parker is looking for a better things from his team.

“Since I took over the team last year, our long term goal is to win a state championship,” said coach Parker. “But we know at this point, we just have to make the tournament.”

“I’m really optimistic about the season, because these guys work so darn hard. They take pride in working on the little things and doing it well,” coach Parker said.

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