From left, Derek Silver completes a bicycle kick as teammate Cody Osgood watches it fly over an opponent in a soccer game against Gardner on Oct. 14. Silver’s kick resulted in a goal for Bromfield. (Photo by Tyler Papazian)
The Bromfield boys varsity soccer team rolled to its eighth win of the season over the Gardner Wildcats by a score of 9–0, last Wednesday, Oct. 14. Bromfield started the festivities in the game’s 14th minute, when the ball deflected off the Gardner keeper to junior Derek Silver, who found the bottom right corner of the net with a perfectly placed bicycle kick. Fifty seconds later, senior Dylan Gatto sent a pass to senior Josh Wright, who finished easily, slipping the ball past the charging keeper.
Late in the first half, Bromfield’s offensive pressure paid off again when senior captain Cody Osgood passed the ball to sophomore Jack Landry, and Landry placed it under the goalie’s out-stretched hand for the Trojans’ third goal of the half. Bromfield finished the half on a high note when junior Isaac Cohen sent a free kick from past midfield inside the box to sophomore Brian McCollough, who caught the goalie flat-footed and gave Bromfield a 4–0 lead with a strong kick to the keeper’s left. Senior Jake Lurvey made his first start of the year in goal from Bromfield, and maintained a shutout through the first half.
Bromfield came out of the gate strong in the second half, when senior Brian Mandozzi sent a pass to Osgood, who trapped the ball with his chest and scored with a shot from just outside the goalie’s box. Gardner soon had its first real scoring chance of the game when their strikers exchanged the ball past junior keeper Will Nocka, who replaced Lurvey for the second half, but junior fullback Colin Nygren made a huge save for Bromfield, sliding in front of the open net to keep the shutout intact.
Minutes later, Osgood was streaking down the left sideline and found senior Greg Deer, who scored to extend Bromfield’s lead to 6–0. Gatto put himself into the scoring action when Gardner’s keeper deflected a Silver shot to him, which he finished easily. The Trojans extended their lead to eight when McCollough sent a pass to halfback Hunter Granville, who chipped a ball over the goalie’s hands from 35 yards out. Bromfield finished up the action when junior Jeff Yates found Landry for a header in the top left corner of the net.
Coach Tom Hill was pleased with Bromfield’s second half effort, but was unimpressed with their first half.
“The first half was just lackadaisical,” Hill said. “If this were a different game, we wouldn’t have been leading after the first half … But we did a good job putting them away in the second half. We passed well and we finished well.”
“This was a good gear-up for our next few games, heading into Lunenburg, Sutton, and Groton-Dunstable,” he added.
Eight different players scored goals for Bromfield. Landry finished with two; Osgood finished with a goal and two assists; Gatto, Silver, and McCollough each had a goal and an assist. Lurvey and Nocka contributed with two and three saves, respectively, to preserve Bromfield’s shutout, getting help from the strong defensive play of senior captain Zach Clements, senior Tom Charron, and juniors Cohen, Nygren, and Granville. Senior captain Ben Landry left the game in the first half after an opposing player landed on his foot, fracturing a bone, and his status for the state tournament is unclear.
After adding a 5–0 win over Tahanto Regional High School last Monday, Bromfield improved its record to 9–3–1.
