Mansfield Scores Two Late Goals to Hand SHS Boys' Soccer a Loss

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 and Franklin, both 2-1, with the Franklin defeat coming in the game’s closing minutes. A great win, 2-1, over followed by a tough 1-0 defeat to , 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 then gained ball possession for the final three minutes of the game to assure the comeback victory.

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.