Boys Soccer: Potent D-R Offense Silenced by Voc-Tech Goalie

NEW BEDFORD - Soccer is a team game, but a hot goalie can make all the difference in the world. That was the story for Dighton-Rehoboth on Wednesday, which fired 16 shots on GNB Voc-Tech goalie Devin Sanchez and wound up with no goals to show for it in a 3-0 road loss. “Their goalie made some outstanding saves,” D-R coach Steve Kulpa said after Wednesday’s game on the artificial turf at Reilly Field. “We had our chances, we just have to finish.”

The Falcons dropped to 1-2 on the season but Kulpa was encouraged with how his team played against GNB Voc-Tech and how they are improving moving forward. “If we perform like we did today the rest of the season, we’ll win more games than we lose,” he said. “We worked our tails off today. Every year we have high expectations. We want to make it back to the tournament and I believe we will be in the tournament at the end of the year.”

REPORTERTODAY.COM MVP: Sophomore goalie Mason Kulpa allowed three goals but turned away many more GNB Voc-Tech scoring chances with some highlight-reel saves. “Mason faced a lot of shots and made some good saves,” coach said.

GNB VOC-TECH COACH HENRY ANDRADE: “Dighton-Rehoboth is always one of the toughest teams on our schedule. They play the ball well. They’re a young team and they’re going to keep improving.”

DEFENSE KEPT IT CLOSE: Mason Kulpa made some outstanding saves, but the defense in front of him was just as impressive, coach Kulpa said. “We played really solid defense today,” he said, crediting sophomore Bryce Downs, juniors Cam LeBlanc and Jame Lobban, and senior captain Steve Morgado.

STONEWALLED BY SANCHEZ: The Falcons had plenty of scoring chances in the second half but failed to convert, being turned away by nice saves by Bears’ goalie Sanchez often. Sophomore Keaneau Alves and junior Marshall Morgado saw good, hard shots find Sanchez' grasp, and attacked Matt Duarte did all he could to put the ball in the net on several occasions but come away empty-handed. “He’s a goal-scorer,” coach Kulpa said of Duarte. “He’ll have many more chances this year.”

GNB VOC-TECH STATS: Scoring for the Bears were Dominek Borden, Josh Tavares and Jose Suarez while Cameron Aguiar, Christian Liborio and Keegan Cravinho collected assists.

THREE GAMES IN THE BOOKS: The Falcons opened their season with a 2-0 win over Fairhaven before falling in the second game 3-2 to Apponequet. Sophomore Kevin Smith lead the team so far with two goals.

UP NEXT: The Falcons will have three games next week. They’ll host Somerset Berkley on Monday, Fairhaven on Wednesday and travel to Bishop Feehan for a Saturday morning contest.