Slow starts leave EPHS boys' soccer team seeking results

Townies have earned just three points from 12 to begin 2017 season

By Mike Rego
Posted 9/27/17

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School boys’ soccer team took a brief respite from early season Division I competition at the start of this week, hosting neighbor Providence Country …

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Slow starts leave EPHS boys' soccer team seeking results

Townies have earned just three points from 12 to begin 2017 season

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School boys’ soccer team took a brief respite from early season Division I competition at the start of this week, hosting neighbor Providence Country Day in a non-league outing, September 25.

The Townies entered the week with a 1-3-0 record to date in D-I play, good for three points out of a potential 12. That win total left the locals in a group of six teams with just one victory, though four of those sides have earned at least a tie and an additional point in the league standings.

“It’s a little disappointing from my perspective and the guys feel the same way,” EPHS head coach Tony Vieira said of the Townies’ start to the season. “We think we should be 2-1-1 at least, but I guess that’s could’ve, should’ve, would’ve.”

Hendricken was setting the pace in the D-I ranks as of the start of the week, the Hawks entering this stretch with a perfect 4-0-0 (12 points) mark. Reigning state champion Barrington was second with a 3-1-1 record (10 points), including a victory over the Townies. LaSalle (7 points) was the only other team besides Hendricken not to have taken a loss during the first three weeks of the regular season, the Rams, coached by 1970s EPHS standout Mario Pereira, posting a 2-0-1 mark as September 25.

East Providence played just once last week, losing its most one-sided decision to date in a 4-1 setback to Central. The Townies’ other contest scheduled against Tolman in Pawtucket was postponed due to the rains and high winds associated with the remnants of Hurricane Jose.

“Honestly, I don’t think we’ve played that bad,” Vieira said. “Even in the loss to Central. They had one kid (Tomas Aldana, who scored a hat-trick) who was just too much for us. Every time he had the ball he was just so dangerous.”

Previously, E.P. dropped a 3-2 decision to Central Falls in a game Vieira said his team outplayed the visiting Warriors, but the exploits of former Townie Adilson Gomes-DaSilva, who transferred to C.F. two years ago, was the difference. Gomes-DaSilva netted all three goals for the Warriors.

“Against C.F., we absolutely peppered them all game with free kicks, corner kicks, throw-ins, but Adilson literally scored three goals on four shots,” Vieira explained. “(Gomes-DaSilva) was part of the pre-game scout. We know about him, obviously. He’s one of the fastest kids in the state. He’s a great kid, works hard. We’d still love to have him, obviously, especially after he scored two goals against us.”

The Townies picked up a 3-1 win over Chariho in its next outing, Tyler Coelho scoring a brace for the locals. E.P. then dropped a highly competitive 1-nil decision to Barrington before falling to the Knights at the start of last week.

“To be fair, we didn’t play that bad. We weren’t great, but we didn’t deserve to lose,” Vieira said of the Barrington defeat. “Neither team did. The wind was a factor. They had it and had us on our heels in the first half and we had in the second half and kept them on their heels. Neither team played good, and neither team deserved to lose. They capitalized on their best chance off a throw-in. The kid went 1-v-1 and scored.”

Coelho and John Caleb-Kauffman have each netted a pair of goals for the Townies to date to share the team lead. Starting keeper Mateo Andrade has made 28 saves against 37 shots total on frame by the E.P. opponents.

“I’m not terribly disappointed. We’re averaging two goals a game, which at the Division I level is usually good enough for a tie,” Vieira said. “I think we do need to do a better job defensively, but a lot of what’s happened is that we’re getting caught up field. We’re generating a lot of chances, putting shots on frame, but we’re getting caught on the counter. I feel like we’re creating enough chances, but giving up three and four goals is hard to swallow.”

The Townies play a rare Saturday game to close this week when they host Shea, September 30, at 4 p.m. E.P. then opens October with another home match Monday night, Oct. 2, at 6:30 p.m. The Townies have 10 games remaining during the final month of the season and will need a number of results in any combination to once more qualify for the playoffs in November.

“There are a lot of winnable games out there still. Like I said at the beginning of the season, the league is so wide open. Portsmouth lost to Shea. Tolman tied LaSalle. The results have been all over the place. Hopefully we can one of those kinds of results,” Vieira added. “We’ve got a tough schedule coming up. October is going to very difficult.”

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