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By STEVE MAZZONE Sports writer CENTRAL FALLS – Josh Robison was hoping to show up with his ‘A’ game. He was looking to kick off his season, and spark his teammates, on a strong note in their league opener.
He got it.
In a Division I-North contest Tuesday afternoon, the Cumberland High senior was everywhere to be found at the Francis L. Corrigan Complex, taking care of all the offense as the Clippers held of a pesky Central Falls High squad, 4-3.
Robison’s four-goal effort was his first as a varsity player and nearly half as much as he scored during a solid junior season.
“It’s kind of starting to break out from last season,” said Robison, who had nine tallies in 2007. “I had a good season last year it just wasn’t good enough for me. Now I’m just trying to set the tone for the season, really.”
Robison’s performance thwarted a gallant comeback by the Warriors. Trailing 2-1 at halftime, Central Falls netted two unanswered goals in the final period. But Robison took over from there, knotting the score midway into the half and then scoring the eventual game-winner with just 1:30 remaining in the tilt.
On the decisive goal, Robison managed get hold of the ball from about 10-yards out after it deflected off the foot of teammate Sean Buxton. He then fired a straight-on shot to the left corner of the cage, just out of the range of CF goalie Jason Pita.
“It was kind of a lucky bounce,” said Robison about the decisive goal. “It came off Sean Buxton’s heel, it came to me and I knew I had to shoot it or else the opportunity was gone. So I did, and luckily it found the back of the net.”
“He’s just got good speed,” CHS coach John Lopes said. “Today he was just out-running everybody and he finished nicely. That’s what we need from him this season. We need that from him.”
Cumberland and Central Falls entered the contest after successful campaigns last fall, including a pair of postseason berths. The Clippers copped the league crown with a 9-6-3 mark while CF finished second at 7-7-4.
“Most of the guys are back,” said Lopes, whose squad was ousted in the preliminary round of the playoffs last year. “We lost six seniors. We’re going to miss some of them. But that’s high school soccer, you lose some players and then you have to replace them. We’ll be competitive (this year).”
The Warriors appeared as though they would get the early edge against the Clippers, but lady luck wasn’t on their side. In the opening six minutes, CF had two shots by sophomore striker Victor Parra that hit the top crossbar. Parra’s first near-miss came on a kick just two minutes into the game. At the 34-minute mark, his header from about 10 yards also came to a frustrating finish.
Running at full speed, Robison put the Clippers on the scoreboard shortly after, taking a perfect feed from senior Alexandre Coehlo and booting a shot past the out-stretched hands of Pita.
A few minutes after the midway point, Parra tied the score at 1 when his shot from the right side escaped the hands of CHS sophomore goalie Chris Duarte, who leaped high in the air to try and stop the attempt.
In one of his more impressive scores of the afternoon, Robison gave the Clippers’ their one-goal advantage at the break, ignoring the tight, gnat-like coverage of the Warriors’ Helmer Dominguez on the right side before breaking free for the score just outside the crease at 26:40.
“I guess (speed) is kind of what my game is based around,” Robison said. “It kind of becomes instinct when you’re around the net to give it a quick touch.”
Central Falls did make things interesting with its two tallies in the second half on scores from Bryan Barrios and Parra to give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. Both goals were scored in less than a two-minute span that began with 17:12 remaining.
“We got encouraged because we were telling them the same thing at halftime that we were telling them (after the game) that we weren’t playing our game, and we weren’t beating them to the ball,” CF coach Bobby Marchand said. “That was the major emphasis.”
Central Falls, which has 10 first-time varsity players this season, did fight the Clippers’ hard throughout the game. But again, Marchand felt his squad just didn’t capitalize on the numerous chances it had to make things happen.
“You got to give (Robison) credit,” he said. “After a while, he was not a surprise anymore. We tried to put people on him. We just didn’t get our point across. You have to give Cumberland credit and, of course, (Robison). He played a tremendous game. But we did not play our game today. Sometimes you can lose and feel good because you gave it your best and the breaks didn’t go your way. Today, the breaks didn’t go our way because we didn’t make them come our way.”
“They’re a good team,” Lopes added. “They gave us everything they had, and we did our best.”
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Cumberland 2 - 2 – 4
Central Falls 1 - 2 – 3
First half – 1. C, Josh Robison (Alexandre Coehlo) 6:50; 2. CF, Victor Parra (Helmer Dominguez) 23:50; 3. C, Robison (Jason Loureiro) 26:40.
Second half – 4. CF, Bryan Barrios (Kelvin Castillo) 17:12; 5. CF, Parra (Gerson Bermudez) 19:06; 6. C, Robison (David Sak) 20:06; 7. C, Robison (Buxton) 38:30.
Saves – CF, Jason Pita 11. C, Chris Duarte 11. |
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