ETHAN MARGOLIS celebrates his second half goal which broke a 1-1 tie and gave Wakefield the lead for good in their 3-1 Futures and Formers game on Wednesday night at Walton Field. Also pictured is Darragh Casey and Lucas Kehoe. (Dan Pawlowski Photo)
By DAN PAWLOWSKI
WAKEFIELD — It might have been tough for the Wakefield boys’ soccer team to see them, but the Warrior soccer alumni and Wakefield Youth Soccer players showed up in the fog at Walton Field on Wednesday to watch their present team topple Watertown in the program’s first Futures and Formers game hosted by head coach and Wakefield soccer alum Matt Angelo.
“When I was here before, we talked a lot about the history of the team and our core values. We watched the ’97 state championship highlight tape. What I wanted to do is get a lot of alumni here – I honestly have no idea if anyone’s over there,” said Angelo with a laugh, pointing to a fog so thick that the opposite sideline wasn’t even visible. “But I want them to recognize someone they saw at CVS or a teacher they might not know too well; just to show them how many people in this community have put that uniform on and what that means and represents – that you’re playing for the team and not yourself.”
The fog certainly affected the game to the point where Watertown coach Frank Cacia and Angelo shared a couple laughs about what was happening on the far side in front of the crowd, but the alumni were there to watch senior captains Nemo Rizk (2) and Ethan Margolis score goals while the defense locked up the Raiders in the second half on their way to a 3-1 win, improving their record to 9-2-6.
Also watching was Wakefield’s youth soccer players, who are ready to return to Walton for the team’s much-anticipated home playoff game, which will occur later this week or weekend after the Div. 2 bracket is released tomorrow.
“These guys are super skilled and having the young players look up to them, I told them that I’ve seen a lot of travel players at our games and these guys are their heroes,” said Angelo. “I think it’s going to continue to build our community and our program. It’s just nice to know as a player that you have the community support behind you.”
With that support, Rizk got the home team on the board off a nice dish from junior Darragh Casey. With time to pick his spot, Rizk calmly buried one in the top, right corner for a 1-0 lead.
Watertown got it back about 10 minutes later off a deflection moments after a free kick from a dangerous position, but Wakefield’s defense held strong from there, especially with decisive play from Frankie Leone who was lights out from his right fullback spot and Matthew Keefe who also used his speed to shut down Watertown’s dangerous forwards.
“We knew they were going to be a fast-paced, pressing team and very strong on the ball,” said Angelo of Watertown. “We had to get the ball off of our foot quickly, attack space and make hard runs to keep it down their end and avoid their talent up top. A lot of our guys put in a lot of miles in today.”
Wakefield made some changes in the second half and executed to perfection, even as the visibility worsened.
After a battle for possession in the first 10 minutes, Margolis broke the deadlock on a laser, one-timer from distance off another pass from Casey, this time from the outside of his foot on a low, hard pass across the box.
Senior goalie Sean Hogan later followed with a strong punch on a corner which led to a Warrior counter and the second goal from Rizk, about 12 minutes after the Margolis tally. Junior Marc Laverdiere made a strong run on the outside and beat a Watertown defender to a through ball before patiently waiting for the play to develop and picking out Rizk in front who had almost too much time to pick his spot but had enough pace on it to power it through the gloves of the goalie and in for a 3-1 lead.
Freshman forward Jack Millward continued to work hard off the bench and Hogan along with the Warrior back line of Leone, Keefe, senior JJ Faulker and junior Brian Purcell shut it down the rest of the way.
“They did well with the second half adjustments,” said Angelo of his team. “Jack Millward off the bench, our plan was to get it to his feet and make runs off of that. Second half, I thought we dominated; we controlled, executed our game plan and got two goals because of that.”
The victory came two days after the team celebrated their 10 seniors with a 3-0 win over Burlington. In addition to Margolis, Rizk, captain Lucas Kehoe, Hogan and Faulkner, the Warriors thanked seniors Andreas Sofranas, Dylan Buccelli, Nico Chiros, Fintan Brennan and Sam Schools for their years of dedication to Wakefield soccer.
“I have nothing but respect for these guys,” said Angelo of the seniors. “I’m the new guy and I knew I had to win the seniors over because this is their year. Every year we dedicate to the seniors because it’s their last run.
“Their leadership –me having to ask them questions to get a feel for the team and how everyone is adapting – I’ve really leaned on them and I know we would not be in the position we’re in now without their leadership.”
That position, 9-3-6 after a close, 3-2 loss to Everett in the season finale, has the Warriors primed to make some noise in Div. 2 with a home, first round tournament game. That information will be announced on MIAA.net tomorrow at 1 p.m. The Warriors are currently ranked 5th in Div. 2.