SHS Soccer 2011

School	League Record	League Points	Overall Record	Overall Points
Canton	8-0-5	21	10-1-6	26
Oliver Ames	9-1-3	21	11-3-3	25
Foxboro	7-6-0	14	8-8-1	17
Sharon	4-4-5	13	6-6-5	17
Stoughton	1-10-2	4	1-13-2	4

School	League Record	League Points	Overall Record	Overall Points
Franklin	5-3-5	15	5-4-7	17
Attleboro	6-5-2	14	8-6-3	19
King Philip	5-4-4	14	6-6-5	17
North Attleboro	3-6-4	10	4-9-5	13
Mansfield	1-8-4	8	4-8-5	13

Last Saturday, less than 24 hours after their 1-1 tie against Sharon at home on Senior Day, the Stoughton High boys’ varsity soccer team took on an alumni squad of 15 players.

The alumni roster featured current Stoughton High boys’ varsity soccer head coach Matt Bernstein, a 2002 graduate of SHS.

Buddy Lamplough '84	Dan Qunitero '08
Ed Freitas '84	Richie Gonsalves '09
Bill Bismore '01	Alvin Ponteen '09
Matt Bernstein '02	Victor Lemos '09
Doug Hunt '07	Matt Vargas '09
Jon Vargas '07	Adam Faria '10
Bobby Cardoso '07	Paul Solem '10
Adam Wilson '08

Evan Shulze (Freshman)	Joe Ialuna (Senior)
Dylan Freitas (Freshman)	Muhammad Mir (Senior)
Melvin Amado (Freshman)	Gabriel Garcia (Senior)
Micheal Gallagher (Sophomore)	Steve Depina (Senior)
Zachary Monahan (Sophomore)	Jeff Zeserson (Senior)
Christopher Rego (Sophomore)	Paul Comeau (Senior)
Tim Tullis (Sophomore)	Michael Vulakh (Senior)
Jon Silva (Sophomore)	Stephen Colling (Senior)
Luc-Josne Pierre-Louis (Junior)	Zachary Finer (Senior)
Sheldon Oliveira (Junior)	Thomas Berntsen (Senior)
Mike Cardoso (Junior)
Will Chery (Junior)
Mike Paukner (Junior)

Dylan Freitas scored with 1:45 left to play to tie the game for Stoughton, helping the Black Knights earn a 1-1 draw with Sharon on Stoughton’s senior day.

With the Stoughton High boys’ soccer team staring at another one goal loss, trailing the Eagles 1-0 late in the game, freshman Dylan Freitas scored the tying goal with 1:45 left to play, immediately following a Stoughton timeout.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with a freshman salvaging Stoughton’s senior day. The Black Knights are now 1-11-2, while Sharon is 4-4-5.

“That was big,” Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said of Freitas’ goal. “That was heart, that’s it, nothing else. It’s real simple.”

“I don’t think we were aggressive enough on defense,” Sharon coach Barry Kaye said of his team surrendering the game-tying goal.

“At halftime I said aren’t you boys tired of being on the other end of it?” And with 1:45 left, Freitas came through, assuring that Stoughton wouldn’t suffer another one-goal defeat, something that has happened seven times this season.

Sharon scored first, just four minutes into the game when Will Ginsberg found the back of the net. Tim Peng recorded the assist.

With Sharon leading 1-0, Vulakh made three saves in a two-minute span late in the game to keep the deficit at just one goal.

Friday’s result was a noticeable improvement from Stoughton's 4-0 loss at Sharon in late September. This time around, Bernstein felt his team outplayed the Eagles and the improvement was thanks to his players’ “growth and maturity.”

Stoughton ends the season with a game at Canton on Tuesday and next Saturday’s Hockomock League crossover match with a Kelley-Rex Division team.

Sharon needs four more points to qualify for the postseason and has four games left (a win is two points and a tie is one point). The Eagles host Bellingham on Monday.

Just like the season opener at Foxboro, the Warriors scored a late second half goal Tuesday afternoon in Stoughton to hand the Black Knights a 2-1 loss in the rematch.

After losing the season opener at Foxboro, 2-1, the Stoughton High boys’ soccer team had a rematch with the Warriors Tuesday afternoon at home. Unfortunately for the Black Knights, the same scenario played out in the second meeting between the two Davenport Division rivals.

In the rematch, after Foxboro dominated the first half, taking a 1-0 lead, Stoughton countered with inspired play to tie the score, only to see the Warriors score the game-winner with just ten minutes left to take another 2-1 victory.

Stoughton’s frustrating season continues with its seventh one-goal defeat. The Black Knights are now 1-10-1 overall, 1-9-1 in the Hockomock League and 0-5-0 in the Davenport Division.

The win was a very big one for Foxboro who now improves to 6-5-0 overall and 5-5-0 in the Davenport Division. A .500 record is what’s needed to qualify for the postseason tournament, putting the Warriors to advance to the playoffs for the first time in nine years.

Foxboro got off to a quick start with a 9-3 shot advantage (including six shots on goal). Stoughton senior goaltender Michael Vulakh, who again kept the Black Knights in the game, had 13 saves throughout the contest.

Senior captain Sawyer Fleck got the Warriors on the scoreboard in the game’s eleventh minute with a hard shot from an assist by junior Aidan Hyland.

Foxboro kept sustained offensive pressure on Stoughton, but the Stoughton defense was equal to the task led by seniors Steve Colling and Zach Finer, and kept the deficit at one goal entering halftime.

Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein countered by spreading out the team and using players in different positions to create a more balanced attack. It worked as Stoughton took over control of the game, outshooting Foxboro 5-1 in the opening twenty minutes of the second half. Gabriel Garcia, a senior, helped to lead the Stoughton offense.

Finer was awarded a free kick only ten yards out from the goal and sent a laser past Foxboro sophomore goaltender Nick Adair (six saves) to tie the score, 1-1, with 30 minutes left.

After the goal Stoughton continued to put the pressure on Adair, but couldn’t finish any other scoring opportunities.

“We now have seven one-goal losses and have only scored eight goals in twelve games. We can’t capitalize on our opportunities,” Bernstein said.

“We put ourselves in a position to win, but we need to execute and score. It’s frustrating and we can take consolation that we’re close and young and our effort is there, but it takes more than that to win in such a tough league.”

Stoughton ran out of chances and maybe out of gas after a game at Catholic Memorial, the day before. Foxboro also counter attacked and switched formations with an extra attacker. The Warriors began to move and distribute the ball faster and soon took over territorially the final fifteen minutes of the game.

Fleck (nine goals) once again had a scoring opportunity and once again scored with an assist from senior Brandon Fowler, with only ten minutes left, to give Foxboro back a lead that it would never relinquish.

“This was a big win for us,” Foxboro coach Patrick Nash said. “It certainly wasn’t pretty, but we played hard and responded to Stoughton’s comeback and now we’ve put ourselves in a good position.”

Both teams will have a tough upcoming schedule as Foxboro travels to first place and Canton for a Friday night contest.

Stoughton has a week off to regroup before facing Oliver Ames next Tuesday, followed by games against two other Davenport Division rivals, Canton and Sharon.

The Black Knights earned a 1-1 tie at Attleboro Thursday afternoon. Evan Schulze scored the game-tying goal for Stoughton.

The Stoughton High boys’ soccer team earned a 1-1 draw at Attleboro Thursday afternoon, snapping a six game losing streak.

Attleboro’s Steve Cataldo passed to Noah Phelps, who scored the first goal of the game, thirty minutes into the first half, putting the Bombardiers up 1-0.

Stoughton has been on the wrong end of six one-goal results this season, but with ten minutes left to go in the second half, the Black Knights scored the equalizer.

On a set play from senior captain Zach Finer, freshman Evan Schulze scored on a header into the far post, Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said.

Bernstein said that “the Knights were able to dominate [possession] for most of the game,” improving to 1-8-1 with the tie.

“[There was] strong play from all members with a tremendous performance by senior captain Mike Vulakh in goal,” Bernstein said.

Stoughton High students have Columbus Day off, but the boys’ soccer team will be in action on Monday, Oct. 10, traveling to Catholic Memorial for a 12 p.m. match.

On Monday, the Stoughton High soccer team hosted King Philip and fell 1-0. It was the sixth time this season the Black Knights came out on the losing side in one-goal games.

Stoughton came out and controlled possession for 85 percent of the second half, Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said, but the team was unable to find the equalizer.

Bernstein credited senior captains Gabe Garcia, Zach Finer and goaltender Mike Vulakh for strong performances in the loss.

It was another tough afternoon for the young Stoughton High boys’ soccer team. It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but instead it just continues to be a case of playing against more experienced and stronger teams in a Hockomock league that many think is among the top in the state.

On Tuesday afternoon, an unbeaten Canton team (5-0-3 overall, 5-0-2 league and 3-0-1 in the Davenport Division) traveled to Stoughton and beat the Black Knights, 4-0, with four unanswered first half goals.

The Bulldogs are among the best teams in the state. Over the last six seasons, they have only lost nine times in 97 games. The team returns most of the lineup from a year ago when it went unbeaten through the regular season, captured its third consecutive Hockomock League title and won the Division-2 South Sectional championship.

Stoughton (1-7-0 overall and in the Hockomock league and 0-4 in the Davenport Division) has now lost five consecutive games and two straight divisional games (Sharon and Canton) by identical scores of 4-0.

Stoughton did all it could do offensively to penetrate the stifling defense of Canton and senior goaltender Colby Gavigan, to no avail.

The Bulldogs have only allowed three goals in eight games and have five shutouts. Stoughton could only muster two shots on net throughout the contest. The Black Knights also tried to stop the potent and balanced Canton offensive attack that also exhibits great passing and outstanding speed and movement without the ball.

“When you play very strong teams it takes a very strong effort and confidence for ninety minutes, and you can’t come into the game being hesitant,” Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said.

Canton got its first goal just seven minutes into the game when sophomore Eric Wong scored his first goal of the season on an assist from junior Michael Denehy. Thirteen minutes later, Denehy again had an assist, on senior tri-captain Scott Levy’s fourth goal of the season.

Senior tri-captain Chris Murray got his fourth goal of the season, to go with three assists. Murray scored the goal off of a penalty kick, with just over three minutes left before halftime. Canton’s final goal came about a minute later by senior Matt Malloy. It was Malloy’s second goal of the season and it was unassisted.

“Allowing two goals in the final minutes before halftime really hurt us and put the game out of reach, but it was good to see how hard we played in the second half,” Bernstein said.

Stoughton senior goaltender Michael Vulakh had another strong performance and kept the score respectable in the first half. Senior forward Gabriel Garcia and sophomore forward Christopher Rego helped to improve the offense in the second half, but Canton’s depth, defense and sustained offensive pressure didn’t falter.

“We got a good performance from our starters, but also our bench players came in and really played well,” Canton coach Danny Erickson said.

“We have a lot of balance on offense and it makes us very tough to defend. Stoughton did put some pressure on us in the second half and actually were hungrier than us, but we still seemed to remain in control.”

Stoughton will next be in action on Monday, at home, against King Philip. Canton will next host non-league foe Westport on Saturday night.

In the first six games of their season, the Stoughton High boys’ soccer team, despite their 1-5 record, kept every game close, with all six contests decided by just one goal.

But Friday at Sharon, the Eagles put four goals on the board and the Stoughton offense was unable to respond, with the Black Knights falling on the road, 4-0.

Sharon was scheduled to host Attleboro, first on Wednesday and then Thursday. But Sharon school officials canceled all outdoor activities both days after mosquitoes trapped in town tested positive for the EEE virus.

"[Friday's victory is] nice, because we didn't practice the last two days. No games. I didn't know what to expect," Sharon coach Barry Kaye said.

Sharon Junior Tommy McGrath scored at the 5:40 mark, assisted by junior Ian Beach. McGrath made it 2-0 at the 10-minute mark, assisted by junior Jake Steinberg. Sophomore Will Ginsberg then scored at 25:40, assisted by McGrath.

"Just too up and down with the play. When we found our level where we should be at, we never continued with that level," Bernstein said.

So close, but yet so far is the early season motto for the Stoughton High boys’ soccer team, and it continued Monday afternoon at home against Mansfield.

After Stoughton took a 1-0 lead in the second half, Mansfield answered with two late goals to come away with the win.

Through the first five games this season, the outcome of each contest has been decided by one goal. Unfortunately for the Black Knights, they have only been on the winning side in only one of those contests.

There have been tough losses to Foxboro and Franklin, both 2-1, with the Franklin defeat coming in the game’s closing minutes. A great win, 2-1, over North Attleboro followed by a tough 1-0 defeat to OA, set the stage to Monday afternoon’s home game heartbreaker against Mansfield.

After a scoreless first half, that Mansfield dominated territorially, Stoughton came out in the second half with new energy and took a 1-0 lead.

But, the Hornets wouldn’t quit and retook the advantage and knotted the score, with just under 15 minutes left, and then got the game-winner with only 3:40 remaining, to earn their first win of the season.

“It’s frustrating, but we have to play all eighty minutes and do a little more than we’re doing to get the winning result,” Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said.

“We need to be more aggressive and have better decision-making. Mansfield did all this and proved that they wanted it even more than we did, so you’ve got to give them credit.”

Mansfield (1-1-2 overall) outshot Stoughton 20-4 and forced Stoughton senior goaltender Michael Vulakh to play 35 shots. Stoughton, on the other hand, only forced Mansfield senior goaltender Douglas MacNeill to play the ball seven times.

“We had plenty of opportunities, but we couldn’t finish in the first half,” Mansfield coach Stephen Sheridan said.

“We changed our formation in the second half and went from having two forwards to three and it paid off for us with two goals on set plays. We needed this win to get on track, but we still need to play better. The league is wide open and it’s anyone’s for the taking.”

Vulakh has been the story for Stoughton thus far this season as he has come up with 15 or more saves in every contest, keeping his team in the game to the end. Zachary Finer, a senior defender, had another strong effort for Stoughton (now 1-4 overall).

Senior midfielder Gabriel Garcia, sophomore forward Christopher Rego, sophomore midfielder Jon Silva, freshman forward Evan Schulz and freshman forward Melvin Amado were also among the Black Knights who had strong games for the home team.

“If there is a bright spot it’s the fact that our underclassmen are playing very strong and that will help us this year and for years to come,” Bernstein said.

“We’re getting better and we play everybody tough, but we can’t just settle to be close, or to have letdowns and be beat to the ball. We should have won this game and we let it get away from us.”

After a first half, where the Stoughton team was in the defensive zone for most of the 40 minutes and relied on the superb goaltending of Vulakh, the Black Knights came out in the second half and took over the game.

Stoughton scored ten minutes into the half on a goal by Garcia with an assist from Silva, beating the Mansfield defenders in front of the net for the loose ball.

But Mansfield came back and took control for the next 15 minutes, until they got a free kick from 20 yards out. On a set play that involved a lot of movement by the Mansfield team, Danny Sarkis, a senior midfielder, found sophomore midfielder Brian Esposito for the tying goal.

The Hornets continued their offensive pressure and on a throw-in, from the corner, senior defender Adam Hemond connected with Sarkis for the winning goal.

Mansfield will next play at Oliver Ames on Wednesday evening. Stoughton hopes to turn its fortunes around, playing its next two games on the road, starting with a rematch against North Attleboro on Wednesday, and a crucial Davenport Division game at Sharon on Friday.

At the 7:35 mark of the first half in the game at Oliver Ames, OA senior captain Adam Karas fed sophomore Lucas Aroujo, who scooted the ball past Stoughton goalkeeper Michael Vulakh to put the Tigers ahead 1-0.

It was the only goal of the game for either team - launching Oliver Ames to an important early season, Davenport Division victory.

"At the end of the day, a win is a win, in terms of getting us closer to the [tournament] – because that is our ultimate goal," OA head coach John Barata said.

While the Tigers won by a narrow margin, the game was dominated by the OA offense, led by Karas, for most of the game. But, only one ball was able to find the net - which was slightly unsettling for the coach.

"It was concerning, only because in a Hockomock League that is so competitive, it’s so strong – I really don’t want them to score a goal last minute," he said. "The game could have gotten away from us with a last minute goal."

For Stoughton head coach Matt Bernstein, whose team was playing its fourth game of the week, the Black Knights just didn't come prepared.

"It’s an equal playing field when the whistle blows and you start your match, and we just didn’t meet that," he said. "We were settling. We were playing status quo and you can’t do that."

"It’s a good lesson learned that every opponent is different, and you’ve got to bring something different to the table," he said. "The positive thing is the guys are working hard. You can’t say that that’s not a fact."

The Black Knights came away with a 2-1 victory over the Red Rocketeers Wednesday afternoon at home, improving to 1-2 on the season.

North Attleboro controlled possession for most of the game, had more shots on net and had more corner kicks, but on Wednesday afternoon, the Stoughton Boys edged the Red Rocketeers where it mattered most—the scoreboard, earning a 2-1 win at home.

It was a year ago, this week, when Stoughton last won a game, improving to 2-1 to start the 2010 season. But, over the remaining 14 games of that season, Stoughton didn’t win again, going 0-11-3.

To start this season, Stoughton lost two heartbreaking road games, both by scores of 2-1, Monday at Foxboro and Tuesday night at Franklin, to run the winless streak to 16 games.

On Wednesday, Stoughton played its third game in three days and second in less than 24 hours, with a very tired team, but with a lot of heart, against a very strong North Attleboro squad.

At times it looked as if the field was tilted toward Stoughton’s senior goaltender and tri-captain Michael Vulakh. However, Stoughton hung on and took an exciting 2-1 victory, in their home opener, to end a year of winless frustration.

North Attleboro rifled 32 shots at Vulakh, 14 on net, and he saved all but one. Meanwhile, Stoughton sent only eight shots toward the North Attleboro goal and only two on net throughout the entire contest (both in the first half) and both went in.

The Red Rocketeers also had an incredible 15-0 advantage in corner kicks and hit the goalpost with five different shots.

Stoughton senior tri-captain and defender Zach Finer made a great save with ten minutes remaining in the game and Vulakh had a sensational diving stop in the final two minutes to preserve the victory.

“We were coming off a very frustrating loss, and we were tired. The calls and the breaks didn’t go our way, but even so, the right team usually comes up on top. In this game although we were outshot and the opponent pressured us, we showed a lot of heart and never quit,” third year Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said.

“From senior down to freshman I expect everyone to contribute equally and everyone on the team did their job and worked as hard as they could.”

After early pressure by North Attleboro, Stoughton (1-2-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the Hockomock League Davenport Division) was finally able to move the ball downfield and scored eight minutes into the game.

Evan Schulze, a freshman, scored his second goal of the season. The North Attleboro goaltender couldn’t handle the loose ball and Finer got control of it, passed it to Schulze, who put it into the net.

North Attleboro (0-2-1 overall and 0-1-1 in the Hockomock League Kelley-Rex Division) would come right back with sustained offensive pressure and eight minutes later, tied the score. Junior forward Mike Manning scored with an assist from junior Ryan Kingsley.

The play would continue in the Stoughton end of the field, until Melvin Amado scored for the Black Knights, with 16 minutes left before halftime, to give the home team a 2-1 lead.

It was the Black Knights final shot on net as they would cling to the lead over the final 56 minutes to earn the long-awaited victory.

“This was a tough loss and it has been frustrating this season, but we know that we’re a good team and have experience and return a lot of players from last year’s team that qualified for the [postseason] tournament,” North Attleboro coach Geoff Burgess said.

“We’ll be fine and we’re happy with how we’ve been playing, but we just have to learn to finish off our opportunities.”

Stoughton will get a well-deserved day off, and then be right back in action at Oliver Ames on Friday afternoon, for a Davenport Division game, as the road doesn’t get any easier for Stoughton in the very competitive Hockomock League.

“Hopefully, this win will be the start of many more to come,” Bernstein said. “We just have to keep working hard and good things will happen. We have not qualified for postseason play since 2002 and we need to change that, this season.”

The boys varsity team won their first game of the season against North Attleboro on Wednesday, September 14. The boys came out firing, leaving right off where they started from the night before. Both Stoughton goals came from the Knights freshman. Evan Schulze scoring his second of the season and Melvin Amado. Stoughton will take on OA on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Oliver Ames.

The Black Knights fell 2-1 Monday afternoon at Foxboro, but will have the chance to bounce back Tuesday at Franklin.

Playing with composure and an excellent possession game, Foxboro was able to get by the Stoughton High boys’ soccer team, 2-1, in both team’s season openers Monday in Foxboro.

The Warriors wasted little time getting on the board. Taking advantage of a ball booted by Foxboro goalkeeper Nick Adair, Sawyer Fleck scored the opening goal with a shot over Stoughton goalkeeper Michael Vulakh from the top of the box in the fifth minute.

But, the lead was short lived as the Black Knights came right back. Looking for a quick equalizer, Steve Depina found the back of the net to tie the game 1-1 during the eighth minute of play.

“It was a good equalizer. It made the game back to an even playing field, which it should have been at to begin with,” Stoughton coach Matt Bernstein said .

Controlling possession of the ball and playing physical, Foxboro seemed to have no problem getting offensive opportunities. The only problem was finishing those chances.

“We played physical. We attacked a lot. Unfortunately, we couldn’t finish a lot of our attacks,” Foxboro coach Pat Nash said.

However, the Warriors were able to finish off one attack to take the lead during the 64th minute of play. Ben Carleton was able to get the header off a corner kick from Fleck to take a 2-1 lead and give Foxborough another hard earned goal.

“That last one was a nice hard finish, crashing the net. The other [goal] you don’t see too often when a goalie gets an assist,” Nash said.

The Warriors continued to attack for the final 16 minutes of action. The aggressive style of play put Stoughton in a position where they couldn’t find the net or gain possession for very long.

“We never felt comfortable on the attack," Bernstein said. "It is a very physical game and they disrupted our play. They were very physical but that’s what the league is.”

While Foxborough celebrated their season opener with a win, Stoughton was forced to look back and figure out how to increase their offense and produce more scoring.

“After we started off well we went up against higher quality teams [and it] put us down and we never quite recovered,” Bernstein said.

As Bernstein alluded to following the Foxboro loss to kick off the 2011 season, he also wants to see a greater balance between offensive and defensive play, with a greater emphasis on attacking the opposition on the offensive end.

On the field, Stoughton will be led by their three senior captains—Zack Finer (defender), Gabe Garcia (defender/midfielder) and Vulakh in net—players Bernstein calls the “backbone” of the team.

Vulakh was fighting injuries last season, but Bernstein said “this year he is healthy and looking strong and ready to go.”

Depina, a senior striker, and Mike Gallagher, a sophomore midfielder, will also be key contributors to the team, Bernstein said.

“Each member of the team has an important role on the team, and has a job they need to do to get the wins we need,” Bernstein said.