Cranston’s crosstown rivals met again over the weekend for their annual City Cup soccer matches. The Falcons swept their rival at Cranston Stadium in two shutouts, as the Falcons girls and boys teams brought home the victory.

Following last year’s mixed-squad exhibition, the girl’s teams returned to a normal match. In this match, Cranston West’s girls dominated their way to a 3-0 shutout victory. Despite East being in position to make playoffs for Division III, the Falcons’ defense, which hadn’t given up more than three goals against Division I competition, stood strong.

Oceanna Orlandi kept a clean scorecard for the Falcons in net. Goals came from Sarah Pimental, Adalina Menezes, and Molly Fitzgerald, leading them to a season-high in scoring for a game.

Head Coach since 2014, West’s Jeremy Sherer has fielded many different teams at the helm of the Falcons girls soccer team.

“This is a bit of a rebuilding year. We graduated 10 seniors, seven of which were starters. Fourteen of our current varsity roster are in a varsity uniform for the first time. It’s a good group but taking some time to build the relationships and chemistry on the field. It’s starting to come together. I believe we have the best goalkeeper in the state in Oceanna Orlandi. She keeps us in every game. At any one time we have seven, eight sophomores and freshmen on the field. We are young but growing,” said Sherer.

Pimental was able to get past the Thunderbolts goalkeeper Bella Dupret to score the Falcons first goal early into the contest. Dupret was forced off the field due to an injury, but was able to return. However, in her absence Adalina Menezes was able to capitalize, finding the back of the net and giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead before halftime.

Already with a lead coming out of halftime, the Falcons added on as Fitzgerald kicked a high flying ball that bounced over Dupret in goal. With the lead at 3-0, there was no answer from the Bolts.

Cranston West’s girls soccer finished off the shutout, winning the City Cup. Following the game, Norah Flinn from Cranston East, and Brynn Bachner from Cranston West were named the game’s MVPs.

“Brynn Bachner is our defensive midfielder. She does a great job of disrupting opposition play, reading the game. She is a solid technical player whose ability gives her time and space on the ball to find our attacking players. Brynn has been a great captain/leader on the field this year, modeling for the younger players,” said Sherer.

The boys teams had the stage immediately following the game, producing another shutout in favor of the victorious Falcons. Scoring from Aidan Hay and Chris Melise backed up their goalkeepers’ stellar play in net.

Yair Correa, in his first year as West’s coach, invited in the rivalry game with the Thunderbolts.

“The rivalry matches are what we live for as coaches. The ‘Cranston Clasico’ was certainly a date I had circled on the schedule since it was made available to me. When playing for a cup of this magnitude, it is crucial to maintain laser focus as this is usually the main ingredient towards the recipe of success.”

Aidan Hay put the Falcons ahead early, slipping past David White in the Thunderbolts’ net. Cranston West kept their 1-0 lead intact heading into halftime.

Chris Melise scored the lone goal of the second half, finishing the Bolts off in a 2-0 defeat. Both keepers Angelo Izzi and Elhadji Ndoye combined for the shutout. West secured the City Cup sweep, shutting out the Thunderbolts in both games.

With their victory, the Falcons boys team sits at 6-2 in league play, good for third in their division.

“I’ve been very pleased thus far with the way the program is running. At first, the growing pains were setting in. However, through hard work, resiliency, and perseverance we have slowly gelled at the perfect time of the season and for that, I couldn’t be any more proud,” said Correa.

Correa and his players remain deep in the mix for playoff contention as they enter the final stretch of the season.

“Making a run in the playoffs is something we are all aiming for in the program. Having 13 seniors on the roster, we understand that our leadership and experience helps separate us from most programs in the state. Through sports periodization, we are currently going strong early October with zero injuries and our depth has been the key piece to our success. Having 10-plus guys on the stat sheet for the season has really allowed us to become a Swiss army knife rather than the fixed blade.”

Following the game, White was awarded East’s MVP, and the Falcons chose Jacob Morais as their MVP.

The Falcons were able to get the best of both games this time around, securing both the boys’ and girls’ City Cup and not giving up a single goal. Of course, along with this comes a year’s worth of bragging rights for West and their fans, and a year long wait for both Bolts teams to get another shot to beat their rival.