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Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
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By TERRY NAU Sports editor PAWTUCKET – Unbeaten Shea High and equally unbeaten Smithfield seem to be separating themselves from the rest of the Division II-North contenders at this early juncture in the season.
Lincoln High coach Victor Alves has sent his tenacious team against both Shea and Smithfield and come up on the short end of 3-0 and 2-0 scores, respectively.
“We learned a lesson today,” Alves told his 2-2 Lions after Monday’s 3-0 loss to the Raiders. “If you make a mistake (against a team like Shea), it’s going to cost you.”
Shea features a roster loaded with playmakers, shotmakers and talented defensive players. That became apparent in the early going when the Raiders struck for two goals. Winger Micael Semedo set up Silvino Lopes for the opening goal just 15 minutes into the first half. Joao Fernandes struck again 15 minutes later on a setup by Ruud Antune.
“We did a few things well today,” Shea coach Pierre Ridore said after the game ended. “Our game is one, two, touch and move the ball. We did that for the first 30 minutes, then we got away from it and Lincoln put us back on our heels for awhile.”
Shea, now 5-0 in division play, tacked on its final goal 10 minutes into the second half when Lopes converted another pass from Semedo.
“Our first goal was the exact result of the ball movement we try to create with our passing game,” Ridore said. It helps that the Raiders owned a decided edge in speed, creativity and ballhandling skills.
“Lincoln is a very good squad,” Ridore said. “They play a very organized game and put several good shots on our goaltender (Levidson Andrade).”
Shea outshot Lincoln 12-4 in the contest, applying heavy pressure on Lincoln goalie Evan Walsh.
Alves, whose team plays three games this week, talked to his players after the game in a teaching manner, going over some of the things they have to correct in order to compete with the top two teams in the division.
“You can’t not mark any of their players when a set-play situation comes up,” he said, referring to corner and direct kicks and other stoppages in play that allow teams to line up their offensive formations. “Shea’s players all have great skills and if you leave them alone, any of them can put the ball in the net. So we have to mark everyone. In our last two games, we have given up five goals and all of them have come because we did not mark a player.”
Alves sees this as a correctable mistake.
“Our team has to play mistake-free soccer to beat these guys,” he said, referring to Shea. “And we have to take advantage of our own opportunities (on offense). But I’m glad we get to play Shea a second time this season.”
Alves didn’t mean that as a threat, just as a reminder to his own team that it can measure its improvement over the course of the season by how it competes against Shea later on in the season. And perhaps in the playoffs.
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Lincoln 0 - 0 – 0
Shea 2 – 1 – 3
First half scoring: 1. S, Silvino Lopes (Micael Semedo), 15:00; 2. S, Joao Fernandes (Ruud Antune), 30:00.
Second half scoring: 3. S, Silvino Lopes (Micael Semedo), 10:00.
Shots on goal: Shea 12, Lincoln 4. Goalie saves: Levidson Andrade (S) 4, Evan Walsh (L) 9.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 20 September 2008 )
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