The City Cup returned to Cranston Stadium this past weekend, continuing the annual tradition of the highly anticipated rivalry soccer matchups. Cranston West’s soccer program had much to live up to following their shutout sweep of both games last year.
They started down a familiar path as the Falcons’ girls’ team shut out the ‘Bolts to open the night, however, it wasn’t as easy for them in a boys match that went down to the wire. When all was said and done, West swept the City Cup for another year in a row, but the Thunderbolts were able to show more fight this time around.
West’s All-State goalkeeper Oceanna Orlandi was not in action. Instead, the backup keeper for the Falcons, Emma Kiley, kept a clean scorecard in her absence.
It’s an embarrassment of riches in goal for Jeremy Sherer, head coach of the Falcons girls’ soccer team. Talking about Kiley after the game he stated, “In her own right, she is a very good keeper, with good feet and great distribution. She is also one class behind one of the best most acrobatic keepers in the state (Orlandi). I think that pushes Emma a bit to continue to improve while also biding her time.”
In what was more of a defensive showcase, the ‘Bolts couldn’t produce any offense against the strong defensive front of the Falcons, being shut out in back-to-back years. Adalina Menezes, Sarah Pimental, and Ashlyn Renaud all managed to find the back of the net for Cranston West in their 3-0 victory.
The defense has been strong for the Falcons all season, Sherer shared “We are very tough to break down thanks to our overall efforts, energy, back line, and Oceanna. On the other hand, we struggle to finish opportunities.”
Struggling to finish opportunities has put them in an interesting position this season, the team currently sits at 2-2 with five draws. An increase in offensive production could take this team to the next level, and Coach Sherer believes it’s close.
“I’m hopeful that as we hit the second half of the season we can turn that around and position ourselves for a good playoff run.”
Following their JV program’s 6-0 victory earlier in the day, more goalscorers seem to be developing for the future. After a record turnout at tryouts Sherer is excited for the future of the program, “We’re certainly becoming more competitive. The JV group is excellent and has not lost a game.”
In the only goal of the first half, Cranston West’s Menezes scored from point-blank range assisted by a corner kick to put the Falcons on the board first.
The second half was off to a fast start as Pimental beat Bella Dupret to a bounding ball, booting it past the retreating Thunderbolts goalkeeper to extend the Falcons lead to 2-0.
West put a bow on their City Cup victory late in the half, as Renaud found the back of the net with a spectacular shot volleyed in from a high pass to complete the shutout.
Cranston West girls’ soccer took home another shutout victory in the City Cup. After the game had concluded, MVPs were chosen by the coaches for both teams. Isabella Acevedo was awarded the MVP honors for the ‘Bolts, while the victorious Falcons chose sophomore goalkeeper Emma Kiley as their MVP during the post-game award ceremony.

That is not to say the second half wasn’t full of just as much action. Both teams had chances but the defensive prowess on either side kept the second half scoreless. Cranston West barely made it out with a 3-2 victory in their City Cup game.
Anthony DeLuca started in net for the Falcons, showing off his massive leg as he assisted the first goal of Cranston West’s night with a goal kick on target for Sam Naiefeh to be able to header it in for the goal. DeLuca’s kicking strength proved to be the catalyst for many of the offensive attacks for Cranston West.
Second-year head coach for Cranston West Yair Correa praised his keeper’s impact on their offense: “Anthony DeLuca was sensational in goal, he was our first line of attack and he dictated pretty much everything that we did offensively.” Correa expanded to say, “He took control of the game, took control of our offensive sequences, and he really helped us attack in the best way that we can.”
It didn’t take very long for the ‘Bolts to respond, as Cesar Huallanca got them back to even shortly after that with a shot that deflected off and past DeLuca in net.
The Thunderbolts quickly struck again to take the lead, with Brandon Natareno finding the back of the net on a perfectly placed ball from a 37-yard free kick.
Even faster than the ‘Bolts could take what would be their only lead of the night, the Falcons answered back to tie. Alejandro Molina rocketed an unstoppable free kick from 19 yards out past Christian Gomez in Cranston East’s net.
The Falcons took back the lead for good when Parker Inocencio won the foot race for a loose ball with Gomez who came out of the net to sneak it past for the fifth goal of the half. The Falcons led 3-2 entering halftime.
It was a defensive-focused and highly competitive second half that went down to the final moments. The Cranston West defense came up huge with two last-second stops on shot attempts that were inches away from tying things in the late going. The Falcons free kick wall deflected a shot attempt that just grazed over the crossbar, while DeLuca made a jaw-dropping save to secure the 3-2 win.
Cranston East elected their first goal scorer, Huallanca as their MVP postgame. On Cranston West’s side, goalkeeper DeLuca was chosen as MVP for the Falcons.
Coach Correa told more of what makes DeLuca special following his performance, “He’s a great player with a great skill set and a massive piece in that goalkeeping position. I would even argue that he is revolutionizing the goalkeeping position because he is not facing many shots and that’s due to him doing so well on the ball and helping us attack.”
Correa remains undefeated as a head coach in the City Cup, “It’s special, it really is special, and I want to dedicate it to the entire Western Cranston community because they deserve it.”
His team looks to reset and gear up for a postseason push, Correa looked forward as he said “We are going to continue to build momentum, I think that if we have this mindset of layering each day as they come and doing what we can to get better each and every day each and every session we’ll be able to hopefully go after a postseason run that will be remembered forever.”
Correa continued, “The City Cup helps us turn the page from September and everything before that and it’s going to allow us to just continue building and again, layering. We’re very excited for what’s to come.”

Despite the best efforts of the Thunderbolts boys’ soccer team, the Falcons swept the City Cup once again. Both winning teams were led by the strong play of their goalkeepers, who were each awarded their team’s MVP honors after their games.