Rams double up Cumberland
Set-piece mistakes doom Clippers against champions
CUMBERLAND — For 59 minutes Monday night at Tucker Field, the young Cumberland boys soccer team was in position to hand undefeated defending state champion La Salle a rare defeat.
First-half goals from Daniel Nunes and Denser Martinez helped the Clippers go into halftime tied at 2 with the regionally-ranked Rams. But, Cumberland’s inability to deal with the Rams on set pieces proved to be the home side’s undoing.
La Salle junior defender Corey Erban scored on a corner kick in the 59th minute to give the Rams a lead they would never relin- quish. Erban wound up scoring two goals, while senior striker Matt Marcello added a goal off a corner kick in the first half of La Salle’s 4-2 win over the Clippers.
“Definitely, I think this is a process that started at the beginning of the season and I think we’re starting to play our best soccer at the end of the season,” Cumberland first-year coach Justin Resendes said. “That’s the goal for us. I think we’ll be able to get some results late in the season and be dangerous for the playoffs.
Cumberland (3-4-2 Division I) finished off a three-game home stand with Monday’s game against a couple of the best teams in the state. The Clippers secured a 2-2 tie with South Kingstown before suffering a 2-0 loss to one- loss Portsmouth.
With five starters either in the freshman or sophomore classes, including talented midfielder Aidan Bagley and sophomore midfielder Matt Lopes, Resendes believes he’s just scratching the surface of what the Clippers are capable of over the next three seasons.
“We’re a young team and we’re still growing,” Resendes said. “We still have some veteran leadership which helps us, but I really think my job here is to get these guys to understand what a program is and how can we build a soccer program. That will help us grow along the way and become consistent.”
La Salle (7-0-1 Division I) came into the contest having allowed just two goals this season, but the Rams found themselves behind inside of a minute when Lopes played a ball over the top of the defense and Nunes flicked the ball past the on-rushing goalie to give the home side a surprise lead.
The lead lasted until the 22nd minute when Marcello found a hole in Cumberland’s zonal- marking scheme to score on a corner kick.
“We were playing zonal in the back and we had some guys who weren’t in the spots they were supposed to be there,” Resendes said. “We have to be there on that first ball because it kills you if you aren’t. We have to look back on that and get better.”
The Rams grabbed the lead four minutes later when speedy freshman Gevork Diarbian latched on to a ball by Mauro Cortez and slipped a shot into the net. But, the Clippers battled back to square the match at halftime on Martinez’s opportunistic tally with five minutes left in the opening half.
While the first half was an even battle, the Clippers struggled to keep up with the possession-based Rams in the second half. La Salle dominated territory and scored twice to secure the victory.
“With a team like La Salle that has players who can connect passes, they’re always going to dominate possession,’ Resendes said. “It’s about being organized and countering and when that happens your legs get tired. A little more possession in the second half would’ve helped us out.”
Cumberland is back in action Wednesday night against North Kingstown.