http://rutlandherald.com/article/20141009/SPORTS02/710099929
Published October 9, 2014 in the Rutland Herald
Rebels wear down Cosmos
By POODY WALSH
Correspondent
SPRINGFIELD — It’s been a long, tough first season for Springfield boys soccer coach Derek Graham as he tries to fill the gap left with the departure of Paul Kendall. On Wednesday at wet and slick Gurney Field Graham knew that his Cosmos could not match the on-the-field talent of Leland & Gray so he tried to play a bit of keepaway, dropping back nine or so on defense and hoping for something to break offensively.
“It worked for 73 minutes against Proctor the other day,” said Graham of his team’s 1-0 loss to the Phantoms.
And it worked for awhile Wednesday as the Rebels took some time trying to figure things out.
“We had to make some adjustments,” said Rebel coach Chris Barton. And when the adjustments were made, the Rebels went on a scoring splurge that led to a 5-0 win.
“We were OK for awhile, but when they got those four goals in 20 minutes that was it,” said Graham.
It’s been a big season for the Rebels who are 10-2 and tied for second in statewide index points in Division III at the start of the day.
Meanwhile Springfield is 0-11-1 and has scored just two goals on the season. However, when they opened the field up in the second half the Cosmos were just bit off here and there from getting a goal or two.
Ed Shambo had a penalty kick and his decision to shoot to the right of Rebel keeper Julian Plumadore was the same thing Plumadore had in mind and the Rebel’s dive knocked the ball away. That was just one of several chances the Cosmos had in the second half. David Bryant had a shot hit the crossbar with the rebound going to Tanner Shumski, who hit the ball over the net.
“They had some opportunities,” said Barton. “They didn’t give up.”
“In the first half we just tried to funnel everything into the middle and hope to find away to punch in goal, but it only worked for awhile,” said Graham.
Leland & Gray, with losses only to Woodstock and Stratton Mountain, struggled early as Cosmos keeper Jon Hildreth was sharp, but the constant pressure finally got to him during the final 20 minutes of the first half. What got the Rebels going was a corner kick by Sergei Brower that was bounced around in front of Hildreth before Ryan Borgeson shoved it in. Then it was lanky fullback Owen White with a header to make it 2-0. Brower with a circus kick (back to the goal) made it 3-0 and it got to 4-0 when Corso Donati deflected a ball past Hildreth. Bryce Karg had the only goal of the second half with the assist going to Corey Nystrom.
The Rebels had a 9-1 edge in shots in then first half, but Springfield came back with a 6-5 advantage in the second half.
