Published: 11/5/2022 10:00:54 PM
Modified: 11/5/2022 10:00:21 PM
MANCHESTER, Vt. — The Rivendell Academy boys soccer team made a tactical decision, opting to cede the sun and wind advantage to Winooski for the first half of Saturday’s VPA Division IV title game.
Unfortunately for the top-seeded Raptors, by the time they had the elements on their side in the second half, they already trailed the No. 2 seed Spartans by two. Rivendell did play much better for the last 40 minutes, but a comeback was not in the cards as the Raptors were handed a 3-1 defeat, falling in the D-IV championship game at Applejack Stadium for the second straight year.
“We had our opportunities, and they didn’t go down,” Rivendell coach Kevin Brooker said. “We had a lot of soccer luck all season, and it didn’t fall with us today.”
Winooski dominated in the early going, generating chance after chance in the first 10 minutes. The Spartans took the lead in the 26th minute when Emmanuel Omar slotted a goal perfectly into the corner of the net, then an odd-man rush created a second goal just two minutes later. Janvier Mufaume trickled a shot past Raptors junior goalkeeper Carter Bacon, who was caught out of position, to double Rivendell’s deficit.
The Raptors (14-2-0) began to create some offense late in the opening half, but Winooski’s defense and goalkeeper Ahmad Abdilah kept them off the scoreboard.
“(Winooski) was really skilled and really fast,” senior Josiah Welch said. “We were slow to start.”
Welch had an opportunity to get his team back in the game in the 44th minute from the penalty spot, but Abdilah’s save kept it a two-goal game. After that, the Spartans kept the pressure up, with Omar scoring his second goal of the afternoon in the 68th minute.
Down three, Rivendell pushed everybody forward and got a goal back almost immediately from sophomore Will Knowles and had chances for more in the final 10 minutes. But at that point it was too little, too late.
The Raptors, who lost for the first time since their first game of the year against Thetford, will graduate Welch, Harry Molesworth, Mattia Cacciatori, Ben Hooke, Derek Vogelien and Austin Treandly.
Injuries and a small roster to begin with forced Rivendell to play with just 12 players — meaning just one available substitute — for much of the season.
“They showed grit,” Brooker said. “They never gave up all season. Some kids played 100% of the minutes available to them in a season, with four playoff games.
“We’ll walk out with a loss, but I’m smiling because the crowd’s all around them, people still love them. How can you look at that and feel bad?”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.