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Sports

Boys Soccer: Pomperaug 1 Bethel 0

Panthers earn hard-fought victory over SWC opponents

The first game of the season is always one of the hardest for a team, and Tuesday night's matchup versus the Bethel Wildcats was no exception.  Pomperaug won the game 1-0, but struggled at times, especially with mental mistakes.

"We haven't put all the pieces together yet," said Panthers coach Joe Mancini. "I think at times we made it harder for ourselves than we had to."

Pomperaug started the game with an experienced line-up led by senior captains Eric Helfer, Ed Shannon, and Brian Schaake. The remainder of the starters were juniors, including defenders Keith Gillette, Nick Adams, and Brian Cantor; midfielders Josh Abromaitis, Matt Murphy, and Mike Burke, and forwards Scott Grant and Richard Pitman.

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The game started slowly, neither team willing to push too far forward on offense in fear of leaving themselves open to a counter-attack. As a result much of the play was bogged down in midfield, neither team able to hold onto possession for any length of time. Bethel carved out a couple of half-chances in the first five minutes of the game, but their players were unable to test Schaake, in goal for the Panthers.

Pomperaug finally began to take control of the match, stringing together passes and keeping possession. This was almost spoiled when a poor defensive header from a Pomperaug defender allowed a Bethel attacker in on goal, but fortunately for the home side he pushed his shot wide of the post.

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The Panthers continued to apply pressure offensively and they looked particularly dangerous on the counter-attack, forward Scott Grant's combination of speed and strength giving the Bethel defenders trouble all evening. His ability to hold the ball up for his teammates constantly forced the Wildcats to double and even triple team him.

"Scott was very good tonight," Mancini said. "We still have work to do but I thought he did very well."

Some more first-game jitters were evident as a miscommunication between Shannon and Gillette saw a good chance from a corner go begging.  In spite of all their hard work it appeared that Pomperaug would go into the break level with their opponents until a moment of brilliance from Helfer saw the Panthers take the lead.

A Pomperaug corner was only cleared as far as the 18 yard box and the captain made no mistake when given the opportunity to shoot. He collected the ball and calmly placed it in the upper right hand corner of the goal, giving the Bethel keeper no chance.

They could have doubled their advantage less than a minute later but Abromaitis, now playing as a forward, was flagged offside. Pomperaug was visibly energized by the goal and their momentum was checked by the whistle for half-time.

Pomperaug came back in the second half ready to play and steadily laid siege to the Bethel goal. Crosses came in from the left and the right, and the Panthers had several chances to double the score.

Grant and Abromaitis in particular were painfully close to adding to the score, both players failing to get a head or a foot to several dangerous balls. The team kept possession much better in the second half, and Bethel struggled to stamp themselves on the game. Matheu DeSimas looked dangerous on the counter-attack but they ultimately came to nothing.

Bethel's best chance of the game came with less than a minute left. Wildcat goalkeeper Troy Deyo launched the ball forward where it pinged around in the Pomperaug box. Schaake got his hands to it but was unable to hold on, but fortunately for the Panthers it fell to one of their players who gratefully cleared the ball.

That was the last kick of the game and the players were visibly delighted with the result.

"Winning your first game is very important," coach Mancini said. "It allows you to build momentum and really get rolling."

Coach Mancini was happy that his team got the win, but acknowledged that they still have a lot of work to do. Getting up to game speed and decision making were two areas he highlighted as needing work.

"Tonight's performance wasn't perfect," he said. "But the important thing is we got the win and we're confident and we can move forward and improve for the next game."

The Panthers' next home game is Monday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. versus SWC rivals Newtown.

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