WISCASSET — Through two games, Wiscasset boys high school soccer coach Todd Souza watched his Wolverines get their opportunities but fail to convert, with a 0-0 tie against Carrabec and a 4-1 loss to Mt. Abram.
On Monday against Mountain Valley, the Wolverines, behind the coach’s son, found their scoring touch in a 5-0 Mountain Valley Conference win.
Wiscasset is 1-1-1 and visits Hall-Dale on Wednesday, while the Falcons fell to 0-2 and are still in search of their first goal of the campaign.
For the Wolverines, the scoring outburst was led by JD Souza. The sophomore tallied one goal and two assists in the first half for a 3-0 advantage for the hosts, and capped his big day with his second goal 10 minutes into the second half to end any hopes of a Falcons comeback.
“We played really well. After the loss to Mt. Abram, we worked really hard in practice for this one,” said JD Souza. “We moved the ball much better, and what we worked on all week showed on the field. We are planning on going pretty far, and we just want to get better every day.”
“Today we had all 21 guys finally, with all of our pieces healthy, which gives me depth and keeps us fresh,” said Todd Souza. “We were able to keep coming and keep coming, and we got into the flow of the game. We have nine freshmen and five sophomores, and they are just figuring out their own skills. When they figure it out, they will be dangerous. We needed this win after working so hard at practice. We took some good shots and followed up well. They kids really felt it today.”
Mountain Valley fired the first two shots to open the game. But from there, the first half was all Wiscasset, which held a 17-4 shots advantage and an 8-0 edge in corner kicks at the break.
JD Souza set up Russell Marr at the eight-minute mark for a 1-0 lead, and Souza scored on a nice setup from Brycson Grover for a 2-0 edge at 25:11. Five minutes later, Souza launched a rocket that Mountain Valley starting goaltender Dakota Jacques (11 saves) sprawled to stop, but Zack Fifield had nothing but net in front of him on the rebound for a 3-0 halftime lead.
“Our passing, teamwork and communication were really good today,” said Fifield. “We pushed ourselves to limit them and find the scoring touch on the other end. We just played together well.”
“My guys at times underestimate how good some of these other teams are, and it shows up when we don’t respect certain players,” said Mountain Valley coach Todd Papiano, whose Falcons host rival Dirigo on Wednesday at 4 p.m. “Wiscasset played very well today. We played them to a 1-1 game last year, and I just think my guys were feeling a little bit too easy about today. We are going to do a lot of work this week on our man-marking, something that is not always there. Our junior crew is the backbone of the team, and needs to get a hold of that pretty quick. When you’re watching the ball, you’re not guarding the man.”
In the second half, Mountain Valley put its first shot on net as Mike Theriault had his try from long distance gobbled up by Wiscasset goaltender Dylan McMahon, who had three saves.
Wiscasset put the game away when JD Souza scored, and Fifield’s second with 17:37 remaining completed the scoring.
The Wolverines held a 28-10 shots advantage, along with a 9-2 edge in corner kicks.
Mountain Valley backup goaltender Jacob Beauchesne had two stops in relief, while defenders Tucker Phelps, Marcus Wrangberth, Tucker Rowland and Corbin Arsenault were strong in the second half.
For Wiscasset, Grover, Travis Padilla and Ethan James had several opportunities, while defensemen Mason Whitaker, Alex Webber, Kevin Lynch and Camden Reiss were solid.
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