Red Raiders Blank Sandwich 5-0 In Boys’ Soccer Season Opener

By: Tom Moran Jr.
Published: 09/07/12

After 13 years of frustration against longtime Cape rival Sandwich, the Red Raiders finally got on the right side of the score by downing the visiting Blue Knights 5-0 at Leo Shields Field in the 2012 season opener for both teams on Tuesday.

The Red Raiders parlayed a tenacious team defensive effort, backstopped by goalie Lucas Probst, with a balanced offensive attack that resulted in goals from five different players.

After taking a 2-0 lead in the first 40 minutes of action and tacking on a third goal in the opening minutes of the second half, a pair of goals in the final 13 minutes turned the contest into a runaway.

The first half of the first half was pretty much a feeling-out process for both clubs as the Red Raiders and Blue Knights made the adjustments from preseason practices and scrimmages to the level of play required in regular season games.

The Blue Knights had a chance to grab an early lead but saw that scoring bid come up empty as Probst kept the game scoreless with a diving save that sent the ball just wide of the left goalpost.

That might well have been the turning point of the game because not long after, Barnstable midfielder Tales Coelho collected a pass from forward Gui Campos and finished the play off with a shot from eight yards out that easily eluded Sandwich goalie Eric Steele.

The Red Raiders struck again at the 25-minute mark when midfielder Matheus Moreira got the better of Steele with his rising shot from the wing and that 2-0 BHS lead was still in place as the first half came to a close.

Any thoughts the Blue Knights might have had about a second-half comeback were put to rest in the second minute of the stanza when Red Raider forward Felipe Campos finished off a nice rush deep into the Sandwich zone with his unassisted goal that pushed the Barnstable lead to 3-0.

Despite having 38 minutes to erase that Barnstable lead, the Blue Knights could get nothing going offensively as the Red Raider midfielders, Moreira, Talos Coelho, Caio Mitre and Newton Jordao, disrupted virtually every rush their guest tried to muster.

And, on the few occasions the Sandwich forwards were able to gain entry into the BHS side of the field, backline defenders Junior Coehlo, Tyler Bennett, Drew Kaski and Dom Giovannone were there to shut them down.

The Blue Knights then saw their final bid to at least put some pressure on the Red Raiders turn out to be nothing more than a close call as Probst got just enough of a shot that seemed destined for the top right corner of the net to send the ball over the cross bar.

That was the last gasp for the Blue Knights as Jordao capped a nice rush into the left corner with a well-struck shot from less than five yards out that Steele had no chance of stopping with 13:47 left to play before Gui Campos pushed the score to its final margin with his goal at the 35-minute mark.

After collecting a perfectly placed cross from brother Felipe, Campos outfoxed Steele, lifting a chip shot over the charging SHS netminder that found the back of the net and made it a 5-0 game.

“We played well start to finish,” said BHS coach Bill Altieri. “We did a nice job of passing the ball and getting a lot of different people involved in the offense. Defensively, we were aggressive and did a nice job of stopping their penetration into our zone. After dropping two close games to them last season, it’s nice to finally get a win.”

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