Defensive difficulties have hampered the Joel Barlow High boys varsity soccer team in its first two contests of the season. The Falcons have given up a total of eight goals, all coming in the second half of each game. They hope to find the solution soon.
“There’s no direct explanation, but I would say that the other team recognizes certain issues and flaws that we have presently, and they not necessarily make adjustments, but they definitely go after that,” said Barlow head coach Paul Winstanley. “They emphasize that, and we haven’t been able to answer the call.”
Hosted by Bunnell of Stratford on Sept. 10, Barlow held its own for much of the time. Things turned sour in the last half hour of play, however, as the Bulldogs got their offense in gear for a 3-0 win.
A couple of key saves in particular by Falcon goalie Addison Vanderburg helped keep things scoreless in the first half. The Falcons were denied on their best opportunity, coming when Dylan Crawford stole the ball from the defense for a shot that sailed wide left.
When play resumed, the Bulldogs just missed on a couple of chances 10 minutes into the action, only to have the shots ricochet off the crossbar and the post. Less than a minute later they finally broke through when Mael Pierre-Paul headed in a corner kick by Carlo Schmitz, putting their team in the lead for good.
A short while later, Bunnell took advantage of another opportunity, coming when Diallo Cowan took a shot on a fast break that found the net to give his team some insurance. The Falcons nearly made it a one-goal game midway through the half when Bill Bardani’s thrown-in found the foot of Crawford for a shot that sailed wide.
“We had some good opportunities,” said Winstanley. “Dylan had them all. It just didn’t happen.”
The Falcons had also not heard the last from Pierre-Paul. Following a turnover, he managed to weave his way through the defense to find the net once more with 16:36 left to play.
Offensively, the Falcons had much better luck when they visited Masuk in the season-opener on Sept. 5. A 1-0 Barlow lead in the first half was followed by a barrage of goals by both teams in the second, which resulted in a 5-5 tie.
Crawford put the Falcons in the lead on a goal with 15:36 left in the first half as Chad Smith assisted. The momentum seemed to carry over into the second half, as Justin Bente made it 2-0 with Zach Mikhael assisting.
Only seconds later, the Panthers answered with Cristiano Rivera’s first goal. Cash Dewey netted the equalizer with 31:50 left as the Panthers battled back.
Twice the Falcons re-took the lead, only to have the Panthers respond each time. Crawford scored his second goal with 27:48 left as Pablo Morineau assisted before Dewey made it a 3-3 game.
Crawford completed his hat-trick with 19:00 left and added a fourth goal in the time remaining with assists going to Mikhael and Leo Rivera but even that lead proved to be unsafe with Masuk scoring twice in the time remaining, the last goal coming with 3:13 left.
Barlow is now 2-3-1 after notching consecutive victories over Shelton on Sept. 14 and New Milford on Sept. 17, followed by a 1-0 loss to Pomperaug on Thursday. The Falcons visit Newtown on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and travel to Brookfield on Thursday for a 6 p.m start.
