BY CHARLIE ADAMS, TSM Head Writer
(Cranston, RI) - Cranston’s cross-town rivals met again over the weekend for their annual City Cup soccer matches. The Falcons swept their rival at Cranston Stadium in two shutouts, as the Falcons girls’ and boys’ teams brought home victories.
Following last year's mixed-squad exhibition, the girls’ teams returned to a normal match. In this year’s edition, Cranston West’s girls dominated their way to a 3-0 shutout victory. Despite Cranston East’s girls’ soccer being in position to make the playoffs for Division III, the Falcons' defense, which hadn’t given up more than 3 goals against Division I competition in a single match, stood strong.
Oceanna Orlandi kept a clean scorecard for the Falcons in net. Goals came from Sarah Pimental, Adalina Menezes, and Molly Fitzgerald, leading them to a season-high in scoring for a game.
West’s Sarah Pimental was able to get past the Thunderbolts goalkeeper Bella Dupret to score the Falcons first goal early into the contest. Dupret was forced off the field due to an injury, but was able to return. However, in her absence Adalina Menezes was able to capitalize, finding the back of the net and giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead before halftime.
Already with a lead coming out of halftime, the Falcons added on as Molly Fitzgerald kicked a high flying ball that bounced over Dupret in goal. With the lead at 3-0, there was no answer from the ‘Bolts.
Cranston West finished off the shut-out, winning the City Cup. Following the game, Norah Flinn from Cranston East and Brynn Bachner from Cranston West were named the game’s MVPs.
The boys teams had the stage immediately following the game, producing another shutout in favor of the victorious Falcons. Scoring from Aidan Hay and Chris Melise backed up their goalkeepers’ stellar play in net.
Aidan Hay put the Falcons ahead early, slipping past David White in the Thunderbolts net. Cranston West kept their 1-0 lead intact heading into halftime.
Chris Melise scored the lone goal of the second half, increasing West’s lead to 2-0. Melise was quickly given a yellow card following his celebration.
The rest of the second half passed without any Thunderbolts score. Falcon keepers Angelo Izzi and Elhadji Ndoye combined for the shutout. Cranston West secured the City Cup sweep, shutting out the Thunderbolts in both games.
Following the game, goalkeeper David White was awarded Cranston East’s MVP, while the Falcons chose Jacob Morais as their MVP.
The Falcons were able to get the best of both games this time around, securing both the boys’ and girls’ City Cup and not giving up a single goal. Of course, along with this comes a year’s worth of bragging rights for West and their fans, and a year’s worth of wondering what could have been for ‘Bolts fans.
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