West continued its reign over Cranston soccer on Sunday afternoon at Cranston Stadium, as both the boys and girls took down crosstown rival East in their annual City Cup games to complete a sweep for the third straight year.
Each club completed shutout victories, with the boys holding on for a 1-0 decision while the girls won 2-0.
Adam Morello found the back of the net in the opening five minutes for West which would end up being enough as the Falcons defense shut down the East attack the rest of the way.
“That goal really gave us momentum early on in the game, it really put the pressure on them and kept our intensity high,” said West junior Nick Ayala.
Chris Melise picked up the assist and keeper Jack Payne finished with seven saves in net. Despite East’s quality outing on defense as well as keeper Alvaro Ortega-Reyes’s nine saves, the Bolt offense could never catch on as the Falcons earned the win.
Alejandro Molina took home MVP honors for West and was thrilled to see the team snap a three-game skid.
“It’s a turning point for us. This is the point where everything changes. I think it was the perfect time for us to get the win and get some momentum with the playoffs coming up. We’ll need those extra points,” Molina said.
Jacob Amaral added: “It feels great, it’s always a battle with them. It doesn’t matter where we are in the division, we’re always going to have a battle.”
West captain Ruben Rendon felt that the team meshed on the field at the right time as it is heading into its final three games of the regular season with a playoff spot on the line.
“We stayed connected and we got the result because we stayed connected. That’s how the rest of the season has to go. If we stay connected then we’re going to go far,” said Rendon. “It’s going to be very intense. We can’t take any opponent lightly. To win a championship, that’d be a dream come true for any of us.”
The Falcons will be taking on Division I power La Salle on Thursday and then will wrap up with games against East Providence and North Smithfield. Although West does not necessarily need to win all three games to qualify for the playoffs, it will likely need to pick up at least one and potentially winning all three could significantly improve their playoff seeding.
“(Before the City Cup) Coach Yair (Correa) said that our last four games are four finals. We’ve got to make the most of it,” said Morello, who hopes the team’s early season struggles will pay dividends down the stretch. “We took some difficult results at the beginning of the season, and I felt that we (as captains) were to blame for it because of leadership. We need to pick it up. We’ve been on the short end of the stick with a lot of these games. Having those experiences, we’ll have those for playoffs and the remainder of the season.”
As for the girls, West got goals from Stalia Biosse and Mila Meruvia-Rico to pace the offense. Oceanna Orlandi wrapped up the shutout victory in net for the Falcons.
Biosse was named the game MVP for her work on the field.
“It was really exciting. It has been a busy season so far so we wanted to keep our energy up all game. It’s about supporting each other and being on the same page. Keeping our attitude up and making sure we’re playing hard until the last second,” Biosse said of the team’s approach heading into the matchup against its crosstown foe.
The Lady Falcons are also in an intense Division I playoff race and will have some pivotal matchups to close out the regular season. The Falcons entered the week in fourth place and with a postseason berth already clinched, but the name of the game moving forward will be seeding. The Falcons will be taking on the top three seeds in their final four games, which includes Cumberland, La Salle and North Kingstown.
Playing focused and aggressive will be key in picking up a few more wins and climbing the standings, according to Biosse.
“We’ve played some hard teams, so we’re going into it pretty confidently. This is the closest we’ve been since I’ve played on varsity and it’s exciting to see our potential. We have a chance of winning this year. It’s just about staying healthy, staying focused and keeping up the work rate,” said Biosse.