GREENFIELD — Through its first 10 games, the Greenfield High School boys soccer team’s season wasn’t going quite as planned.
The Green Wave were sitting at a 1-9 record with six games to go when coach Andy Rup made things simple for his squad: treat the final six games like a mini-season and record a winning record in the final stretch.
On Monday, Greenfield tied Smith Academy 1-1, in McGrath Division action, giving the Green Wave a 2-0-2 record through four of those final six games.
“Our biggest thing is building a program here,” Rup said. “In order to do that, sometimes you have to tear things down. We took our lumps last year, we took our lumps at the beginning of this season. The guys are now starting to understand how to win. It’s a process.”
Trailing 1-0 midway through the second half, the Green Wave (3-9-2, 2-7-2 McGrath) finally got their offense humming.
Greenfield didn’t have many opportunities on the attacking end, finishing with just three shots on goal, but capitalized in the 60th minute off the foot of Matt Lavoine.
Green Wave speedy forward Theo Popusoi took the ball down the sideline, drawing defenders his direction before dishing to Lavoine.
Lavoine put a move on Falcon keeper Michael Bassett before burying the shot into the bottom corner of the goal to even the score at 1-1.
“We’ve grown leaps and bounds so far,” Rup said. “The guys understand what it takes. We have to play hard and work hard. They’re starting to see the things we are doing in practice on the field now. I think that’s giving them hope, and scoring a little bit helps also.”
Smith Academy scored its goal in the 19th minute as Sam Dadmun slid a pass to Riley Intrator in the box.
The Falcons (8-5-4, 5-4-3) did a solid job of working the ball around to get the Greenfield defense out of position, with Intrator receiving the ball with nobody in front of him and the net, allowing him to take one dribble in and slide the ball into the goal.
Though they had a blunder that led to the goal, the Green Wave back line held up the remainder of the match.
“We had a poor first half,” Rup said. “We picked it up in the second half. I told the guys to focus on the fundamentals and keep our formation in tact. Our back line has been great, we were holding our formations. We pulled them offside a bunch. They’re playing better together.”
Two minutes after the first goal, Smith Academy had a golden opportunity to strike again.
The ball bounced around in the box before a Falcon pounced on it with nobody but Greenfield keeper Alex Carballo standing in the way of a 2-0 game.
The ball was rifled on net, but Carballo came up with one of his nine saves on the day to keep it a one-goal game.
Without Carballo’s strong play, the game may not have been so close.
“Alex played awesome in goal,” Rup said. “He’s taken his lumps in goal and has never complained. He’s a rock back there. As long as he keeps going like that, we keep going like that. That was point-blank. If it goes 2-0, who knows what happens.”
The Green Wave take on Granby on Thursday looking to continue ending their season on the right foot.
Smith Academy 1, Greenfield 1, tie
|
Smith Academy |
1 |
0 |
— |
1 |
|
Greenfield |
0 |
1 |
— |
1 |
Goals: (SA) Intrator. (G) Lavoine.
Assists: (SA) Dadmun. (G) Popusio.
Saves: (SA) Bassett 2. (G) Carballo 9.