Boys' Soccer Loses To Skippers

By: Rich Maclone
Published: 10/22/10

It’s coming down to the wire for the Mashpee High School boys’ soccer team in terms of qualifying for the MIAA state tournament. The Falcons’ chances took a blow yesterday afternoon at home, playing in windy and wet conditions, as they dropped a 4-0 decision to Cohasset High School.
 

The loss dropped the Falcons’ record to 7-7-1 on the year. With just three games left on the 2010 slate, Mashpee will need to finish strongly to earn their spot in the tourney. The team needs to pick up three points in their final three games to get in with games against Harwich, on Monday at 5 PM at Falcons Stadium, East Bridgewater, on Wednesday afternoon on the road, and then against Carver, on Thursday afternoon on the road. Ironically, against those three teams Mashpee has accumulated exactly three points, with a 0-0 tie against HHS, a 2-0 loss to EBHS and a 4-1 win over Carver.
 

“We keep it interesting, that’s for sure,” Head Coach Ed Furtek said of his team. Against Cohasset the Falcons were in the game through the first half, trailing just 1-0 at the intermission. The second half saw the visitors score three more times as their high-flying offense was consistently on the attack.
 

Furtek said that his team’s efforts to stay on top of Cohasset with its defense ran into trouble as the visitors ran them a bit ragged. “Our scoring chances were scant,” he said. “You have to get eight guys behind the ball and counter-attack as a group and you spend so much time playing defense that (offense) can become problematic.”
 

It was the second time this year that the Skippers got the best of the Falcons. They won a 2-1 decision the first time the two teams met a few weeks ago up on the South Shore.
 

On Wednesday the Falcons got above the .500 mark with an exciting 4-1 win over Carver at home, scoring three times in the second half to blow away the Bulldogs after playing to a dead heat over the first 40 minutes.
 

MHS got away with one in the first minute of the second half to take the lead for good as Matt Jalowy got his first of two on a play that Coach Furtek said was clearly offside. “He was way offside, we knew it, he knew it, they knew it, but the men in charge didn’t know it,” Furtek said.

On the play MHS took a corner kick that the visitors cleared out of the zone. The ball came out to Tyler Burtis, who put it out front for Jalowy, who was in behind the defense by a good margin. The referees failed to recognize the offside, and Jalowy wasn’t about to let them know. The senior fired his shot past the keeper and smiled all the way back up the field as the team enjoyed a lead it would not relinquish.

A few moments later the home team got some much-needed insurance and Cody Lootens provided it as he scored his first-ever varsity goal. Mitchell Guzman set the play up, firing a nice cross pass across the goal mouth for Lootens, who sprinted onto the ball and blasted it in, making it a 3-1 game in MHS’ favor.
 

With 16 minutes left to go in the game the Falcons got another from Jalowy, but this time there was no question about its validity. Nate Peterson moved the ball over to Jalowy, who let one go from the perimeter that was placed perfectly. “When you’re hot, you’re hot,” Furtek said with a laugh.
 

In the first half the teams played a tight contest through the first 33 minutes before Mashpee finally broke the ice with seven minutes to go before the break. Jake Van Gelder got the game’s first goal, cashing in a nice feed from Guzman to put his team on top temporarily.
 

Carver came right back to tie it up five minutes later. That sent the teams into the half knotted up at 1-1, setting the stage for the exciting antics of the second stanza.
 

Three games remain for the Falcons as they look to wrap up a spot in the state tournament. On Monday night, at Falcons Stadium, the blue and white will host Harwich in the final home game of the season. Then it’s off to the road for the last two games of the regular season as the team visits East Bridgewater High School on Wednesday and then travels to Carver for a rematch of this past Wednesday’s game.
 

“We’re coming down to the wire; we definitely make it interesting for everyone that’s paying attention,” Furtek said.
 

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