The Cranston East boys soccer team fell to host Pilgrim 3-2 on Monday afternoon.

After falling behind 2-0 in the first half, the Bolts would rebound and tie the score out the gate in the second. Curtis Horace would score the team’s first goal while Connor McDonough netted the tying tally.

However, the Pats would get a second wind and find the game-winner in the final 10 minutes and hold on late to close out the victory.

East had a sluggish first half on each end of the field, with one of their passes deflecting into their own goal to put Pilgrim ahead 1-0. East coach Richard Grenier felt that the slow start put the team behind the 8-ball the rest of the way.

“We came out flat in the first half. You can’t take anything away from Pilgrim, they came out and played hard right from the get-go. At halftime, we really didn’t make any adjustments. We just told the kids that they were getting beat the ball too much, and Pilgrim was beating up to the ball,” said Grenier.

Daniel Rodriguez and Michael Lopez added assists in the win, while goalie David White made seven saves in net.

The team shifted McDonough to midfield and played more aggressive in the second half to tie things up. When it was all said and done, though, the Bolts ran out of steam in the final 10 minutes of action and Pilgrim took over.

“We put Connor McDonough into the midfield and that changed the whole game, he took over. We used all that energy to tie it up and then we relaxed a bit. Pilgrim built some momentum and ended up scoring the winning goal. Disappointing, but it was good for us knowing that we can come back in a game if we’re down,” Grenier said.

Despite the loss, the Bolts have jumped out to a solid 3-2 start and are battling for playoff seeding. Grenier hopes to see his team continue to play strong defense and put its best foot forward as it approaches midseason.

“Our defense has been rock-solid and you need your goalkeeper to come up with the regular saves, as well as the key saves. That is what David has been able to do. The goals that we gave up tonight weren’t on David, they were all defensive breakdowns. We just ran out of energy,” Grenier said.