The Bromfield boys soccer team headed into their match-up against the Leominster Blue Devils Oct. 7 without much momentum in their favor. The 6–2–1 Trojans were winless in their previous two contests, after tying Hudson on the previous Friday and then losing to Oakmont.
Before the game Coach Tom Hill said, “Leominster is our toughest match-up all season. They’ve got an outstanding offense, and it’s going to be a real test for us today. The way we’ve been playing lately, I don’t know what will happen.” The Division I Blue Devils were 5-1-1 heading into the game.
Leominster’s Fabio Machado scored the game’s opening goal off a pass from Nick Leger in the third minute of the game. Adilson Lima made the lead 2–0 in the ninth minute when he got the ball outside the goalie box and placed a ball just outside the reach of Bromfield keeper Will Nocka. Thirty seconds later, Machado stole a pass from the Bromfield defense and increased the lead to three with a shot from 30 yards out.
The Trojans increased their anticipation and communication after the third goal, and had several huge stops by their defense. Midway through the first half, defender Isaac Cohen stepped in front of a hard shot by Lima, and minutes later defender Ben Landry did the same, getting his head in front of another Leominster shot.
Strong play by defenders Zach Clements, Cohen, and Landry, along with a diving save by Nocka, helped Bromfield in an attempt to head into the half with some momentum. However, Bromfield was again plagued by miscommunication at the start of the second half when Machado dribbled through the defense and placed the ball past a charging Nocka for his third goal of the game, and his team’s fourth.
The Trojans then slowed the pace of the game, and it worked in their favor. In the 24th minute, after a Cody Osgood shot, Leominster cleared the ball into Bromfield midfielder Brian Mandozzi. Mandozzi then found Osgood slipping through the defense six yards out, where he scored Bromfield’s first goal.
Bromfield then capitalized on a corner kick, when Derek Silver placed the ball inside the front post. Striker Josh Wright won the ball in a scrum and easily found the back of the net, cutting the deficit to two.
With two minutes left in the contest, Silver put a free kick into the hands of Leominster keeper Andres Gianpietro, who promptly dropped the ball. Striker Dylan Gatto took advantage of this error and quickly finished for Bromfield’s third goal of the half.
Despite the late charge, Bromfield wasn’t able to even the score before the final whistle, and Leominster survived despite squandering opportunities late in the game.
“We didn’t pass well enough to win the game,” Hill said. “We couldn’t string together more than two passes. I kept saying to ‘keep the ball on the ground,’ and we just couldn’t do it.”
“We dug ourselves in a hole with those turnovers in the first half,” he said. “We can’t do that so early in the game. That made our defense work too hard.”
Hill later added that the team did get something out of the second-half charge. “It was satisfying to get those hustle goals toward the end.”
Nocka finished the game with eight saves, and Silver had two assists in the loss.
The fifth-ranked Trojans played Nashoba Regional Oct. 9, and emerged victorious by a score of 2–0. Their record currently stands at 7–3–1.
