Mashpee Boys' Soccer Rolls Over Rockland

By: Rich Maclone
Published: 09/28/12

 Rockland didn’t know what hit it. The Mashpee High School boys’ soccer team very well could be the team to beat in the South Shore League this season, and they were able to show just why, with force, on Monday as they rolled over the Bulldogs with ease, improving to 6-1 overall in the process and 5-1 in league play.

Mashpee scored early and often, netting all four of their goals during the first half in a 4-0 win over Rockland. “We’re playing pretty well. We need to stay healthy and we’re dealing with a couple of things right now, but we’re doing okay,” Head Coach Ed Furtek said. “Last year, at this point, we were 5-0-2, and then the injuries caught up with us. This year, if we stay healthy, I think we can keep it up.”

Romeo Grey scored the first two goals of the game for the Falcons to put them in charge. His first one came on a blast from the left side that left the keeper shaking his head less than two minutes into the game. MHS keeper Connor Murphy, who has done an exemplary job during the early portion of the season, came up with a huge stop on a point-blank Rockland shot shortly thereafter to keep the Bulldogs from tying the score. Grey then struck again in the 24th minute, putting away a feed from Scott Matoian to make it 2-0.

In the 33rd minute Nate Peterson gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead. The senior was tripped on a move to the net and awarded the PK which he smoked into the upper-right-hand corner.

Matoian, who has six assists to lead the team in that category, then set up Peterson with a crossing pass. Peterson was awarded the goal on the score sheet, though it went in off a Rockland defender for an own goal .

The Grey-Peterson duo have paced the Falcons high-flying offense so far this year. Over the first seven games, the tandem is averaging three goals per outing. Grey has potted 11 goals so far and Peterson has 10.

On Saturday Mashpee scored another 4-0 win, this time scoring two goals in each half.

Peterson kick-started things, finishing off a pass from Matoian six minutes into the contest with what proved to be the game-winner. He added another unassisted tally later in the first half.

Grey owned the second half. He scored a pair of goals, four minutes apart, to put the game well out of reach. The senior’s first came off a feed from Peterson in the 53rd minute and he accounted for an unassisted strike in the 57th minute.

Last Thursday Mashpee beat up on Hull, winning that one, 5-0. Riley LaCroix got the first one, off a Peterson assist. Matoian then made it 2-0, just a minute later. MHS scored both first-half goals in the first six minutes and held that lead for most of the rest of the game. They then exploded for three more goals in a six-minute span of the second half to blow things wide open. Grey had two with assists to Peterson and Murphy, and Peterson got the last one from Matoian.

While the Falcons have certainly been lighting up defensive units over the past week, Furtek noted that his team’s defense has done a superb job of making sure that the same doesn’t happen to MHS. With Dylan Shute nursing a knee injury, which he hopes to return from soon, the rest of the backs have stepped up their game in front of Murphy and helped keep the slate clean.

Furtek said that midfielder Jeff Lynch has done a great job leading the way on defense. He also pointed to the play of Tyler Burtis, Kevin Ronick, Dan Robertson, Bailey Bartley and Fernando Lopez. “It’s been a team effort. The goal scorers are getting all of the credit, but the defense has been great and they deserve a lot of credit,” Furtek said.
Today the Falcons hit the road for a big league game at Cohasset. The Skippers are undefeated in SSL play and today’s tilt will go a long way in determining the eventual league champion.

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