SPORTS

West blanked in quarters

By RYAN D. MURRAY
Posted 11/8/22

The third-seeded Falcons were blanked 2-0 by the sixth-seeded East Greenwich Avengers last Thursday night during the Division II Boys Soccer Quarterfinal match at Cranston West High School.

Leo …

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SPORTS

West blanked in quarters

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The third-seeded Falcons were blanked 2-0 by the sixth-seeded East Greenwich Avengers last Thursday night during the Division II Boys Soccer Quarterfinal match at Cranston West High School.

Leo Paradise scored East Greenwich’s first goal during the fifth minute when Alejandro Leon booted a free kick into the box, and then East Greenwich senior Cam Pellegrino passed across to Paradise, who buried it into the left side of the net and put the Avengers up 1-0.

The second tally came during the 68th minute, when Leon assisted to freshman forward Wyatt Gelzhiser, who fired into the left corner of the net from the right side, and upped the East Greenwich lead to 2-0.

Both goals came in the first half.

The Falcons two best chances to score came during the second half and they came from freshman Jack Mefford, who missed wide on both occasions.

“Jack Mefford is a special talent,” West head coach Yair Correa said. “This is a kid that was a junior varsity player coming into the season. We ended up giving him the nod and we called him up to varsity and the kid was an instant spark to the program. He immediately was effective in training and in games, and the value that he brought to the team is something special for a kid that’s making the move from junior varsity over to varsity. He’s going to be a special talent the next three years, and I feel very fortunate to have Jack Mefford for the near future. That’s for sure.”

The Falcons will also retain another key player in sophomore and starter Chris Melise, who always brings a lot of energy and toughness to the field.

“Melise is a special talent,” Correa said. “He is a very good player with a lot of potential. I’m very fortunate to have him for the next two years. He’s a very versatile kid, who provided a lot of different things for us this year, playing wingback and playing winger, as well, going into the attack. Definitely one of the most agile and quicker players in regards to acceleration and that extra step of speed. The kid is definitely something that we look forward to in the future because he’s a massive piece of the program, going forward. He played very well yesterday for what it was, did everything he could in his power to get us the win, but it just wasn’t enough.”

Correa believes the defeat all came down to the Avengers drawing up a better game plan after the Falcons beat them 5-2 on September 23.

“I think East Greenwich understood the assignment and they executed,” Correa said. “I want to give credit to the coaching staff there for better preparing their guys after what went down during the regular season. They came back with a vengeance and it was evident that they had one thing in mind and that was to redeem themselves and they did exactly that.”

The elimination hit the first-year head coach hard, as he will lose 13 of his players to graduation.

“It’s definitely a tough loss because 13 kids on a roster is not easy to replace,” Correa said. “So, it definitely hurts, that’s for sure.”

“Obviously, the seniors are a big reason why we were able to be as successful as we were,” Correa continued.  “They brought a lot of leadership and a lot of experience. Unfortunately, though, we ran into a team that had clarity with their game plan and they came to Cranston and did what they had to do. They took care of business the way that they, I’m sure, trained for. And it was definitely a tough one for me as a first-year coach. However, 13 seniors on any roster is very rare. So, my heart breaks for those kids, of course. It is definitely something that will stick with me very closely for a very long time.”

But Correa also sees a bright side.

“I think they’re moving onto bigger and better things,” Correa said. “The majority of those kids have clarity as to what they want to do in college. A lot of those kids seem to know where they want to be as well, in regards to location. So, I can’t help, but to be super proud of everything they did for the program, and what they brought in, and what the system has provided for them. And now it’s time to just take a step back and witness what they’re going to do in life now. And whether they allow me to do it closely, or from afar, I’m always going to be following those guys.”

Back at West, Correa believes the Falcons will continue to build on the success of this year where they finished the regular season with a league record of 10-3-1 and went 12-6-1 overall.

“Like I tell the boys, ‘we either win or we learn,’“ Correa said. “We don’t lose. And yesterday we learned. We learned a lot, and that’s something that we’ll carry on into the near future. And hopefully we can grow from this.”

If Correa’s first season is any indication, there’s every reason to believe West will only grow from it.

“I think we now have implemented lots of great things into the program and I believe the state of Rhode Island now understands that Cranston West is slowly becoming something to cheer for,” Correa said. “Because we have lots of special talent here, and now given the proper direction, these guys understand how to be as effective as possible,”

“So, I’m very excited for the years to come,” Correa concluded. “And I’m very excited for what’s going to be brewed up here in the city of Cranston. The community deserves it and everybody here deserves exactly what’s going to come. And I know it’s nothing, but lots of success. Especially for me, as a first-year coach to be able to say that I won 12 games out of 18. It’s a massive feat. Not a lot of teams can say that. Not a lot of first-year coaches can say that. There’s usually a lot of growing pains going on in the first year and thankfully we were able to be more successful than anything else. So, I can’t help, but be proud of each and everyone one of these guys, and more so the class of 2023, for giving me their all, in regards to determination and commitment throughout the fall of 2022.”

Falcons, soccer

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