Explosive Sachems demolish Blast

Quick, what is more impressive: scoring a goal 19 seconds into a soccer game; or keeping a clean sheet for more than 225 minutes?

Yes, they're both pretty impressive! These feats went into the books for the Sachems FC under-11 boys team on Sunday: Yoav Barkai's individual brilliance and continued team defensive dominance the hallmark of a well-oiled footballing machine.

By the 15^th minute the visiting Sachems led the Boston Blast, 5-0 and the rout was on – and for all intents and purposes, the game was over. By day's end the “B” team (that being Barkai, Beyer, Booth and Bennett) had combined for six first-half goals and nine first-half assists .. scoring so often so early that they missed the late-arriving video man.

Barkai's first goal came as the slashing striker beat several defender after a nice pass from Bennett Parsons. His second came in the second minute and required less work but greater accuracy, Ian Steckel's perfectly taken corner kick dropping for Barkai in front of the goal and sitting for a last post finish. Through four matches, Barkai leads the Sachems with four goals and three assists.

In the eighth minute, Parsons took a right-sided cross from Barkai and nicked it past the keeper for his second goal of the season and a 3-0 lead for the men in grey. The next three Sachems goals resulted from Charlie Booth's mighty boot – the first, in the 10^th minute settling for Ben Beyer to tap in and the latter two beating the keeper entirely in the 14^th and 26^th minutes.

It was great satisfaction for Big Play Boothy, who was distraught a week earlier after missing a sitter on the goal line against Crusaders. Turns out he was just too close to the goal and needed to move a good 30 yards away! For his resiliency and effort, Booth shared Man of the Match honors with Barkai.

Amidst multiple restrictions in the second half, Cole Turissini regained a loose ball inside the Blast goal area and poked it into the side netting for the final – and sporting – 7-0 margin. Turissini had a strong game on the flanks, as did the ever-consistent Spencer Anton.

Though the opponent posed little threat offensively, the back line of Eric Rolfs, Colin Hickey and John Driscoll and the Sachems midfielders shut down the occasional long ball or explorative foray. Goalkeepers Griffin Burkey and Charlie Cacciola combined for the shutout.

A million thrills in one-nil kill

Many Americans find one-nil soccer matches boring. Those people missed a great game at Mullen Field in Winchester on Sunday where the dominant Sachems FC under-11 boys team survived a fierce challenge from the visiting Crusaders Soccer Club.

The opening minutes of the match were frightful, but Sachem goalkeeper Griffin Burkey was delightful. The flaxen-haired handballer made his most difficult save in the fifth minute – a full-extension dive to his left to keep the Crusaders off the scoreboard amidst a rare barrage of corner kicks.

BMOP (big man on pitch) Eric Rolfs deputized for centerback Philip Woolston, whose thigh injury early on left the Sachems grateful for their new quality and depth in the back – John Driscoll and Colin Hickey manning their outside back battle stations with pace, composure and class. The Sachems backs, along with great effort from the midfield, kept the visiting team to just a handful of opportunities throughout the rest of the match.

With much anticipation, the home side surged forward to end the first half, building to a crescendo that never fully reached a climax, sure goals from Michael Haley, Ethan Sweeting and Ben Beyer all saved well by the keeper.

Sachems continued their bubbling attack with new wide men Charlie Booth and Elliott Rippe shredding the Crusaders into the corners and slicing well-timed crossed in for strikers Beyer, Haley, Sweeting, Yoav Barkai and Patrick Foley.

The Sachems maintained possession for nearly all of the second half, in sum creating more than 30 attacking opportunities and more than 20 shots for the match. But the home side was growingly frustrated by brilliant Crusader keepers and by its own mistaken shots.

But five minutes from time, left midfielder Bennett Parsons – playing with aching, injured feet – dissected the Crusader rearguard, firing the winner in from nine yards to enormous elation from players, parents and coaches all.

Rippe and Booth immediately sitting in with the backs and all Sachem hands on deck, the lead was preserved and the home side earned a very hard-fought 1-0 victory. The Sachems are now 3-0 and have not allowed a goal in 165 minutes (the lone goal coming 15 minutes into their first match).

Sachems not shy, Vipers bitten thrice

Most players with fractured feet take time off to heal. Patrick Foley scores goals. Playing for the second straight Sunday with an injured right foot, the diminutive Sachems striker deftly beat two Vipers FC defenders down the left touchline in the 15th minute, curling in a left-footed lob to give his team an early lift in Sunday's 3-0 victory in New Bedford.

Moments later the local side redirected two crosses toward the Viper goal but saw them cleared off the line. A momentum shift late in the first half saw the home team nearly equalize but fire wide. The first two minutes of the second half were all Vipers, but the Sachems back line was organized, courageous and sharp all game and the early barrage went for naught.

In the 33^rd minute, Spencer Anton served a perfectly weighted chip over the home restraining line to the quicker-than-you-think Yoav Barkai, who nicked the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper.

Two minutes later, outside midfielder Cole Turissini led striker Ethan Sweeting into the left corner. The Somerville native dropped the ball back, Turissini one-timing a low cross to striker Ian Steckel on the six-yard line. Steckel quickly nicked the ball by the looming defender to Barkai, who drove low and inside the far post to make it 3-0.

Sachems threatened again through Anton, Barkai and centermidfielder Michael Haley, but the offense had been settled. Man of the Match honors were split among backs Colin Hickey, Eric Rolfs and Philip Woolston, who – along with goalkeeper Griffin Burkey – kept the clean sheet against a potent Viper side.

John Driscoll made his debut in the midfield and demonstrated excellent tactics and effort, hustling down the lone breakaway of the afternoon and serving several nice balls into space along the touchline.

Sting stung by super Sachems

Level at one despite dominating the visiting Nor'Easter Sting for the first 20 minutes of the first half Sunday, the Sachems under-11 boys were fittingly frustrated. Enter the energetic Yoav Barkai and team talisman Patrick Foley. Within minutes, the newly inserted strikers combined for two nearly identical goals to lift the Sachems to a 3-1 advantage and an eventual 6-1 victory at Mullen Field.

Centerback maestro Philip Woolston wasted little time opening a scoring account for the 2007-08 season, bending a direct free kick over the wall and around the goalkeeper into the top corner of the goal from 20 yards just 35 seconds into Sunday's match.

But the Sachem dominance early did not show on the scoreboard, with left midfielder Bennett Parsons twice firing wide and high-priced strikers Ben Beyer and Ethan Sweeting failing to find the net. The Sting capitalized on two defensive mistakes to equalize at one in the 15^th minute. It looked like Sachems would suffer another heartbreaking half.

But in the 25^th minute, Barkai worked himself to the right touchline and rifled two perfectly weighted crosses into the path of the charging Foley, who nicked both goals to the lower right of the Sting goalkeeper from six yards.

The ball remaining in Sting-ville for almost all of the second half, the Sachems improving their possession and communication. Ian Steckel, tagged to primarily be part of the fullback rotation before kickoff, started the half as the team's withdrawn striker and chipped in two lovely goals – in the 35^th minute from Spencer Anton and in the 46^th minute from Cole Turissini.

In the 58^th minute, Woolston released Beyer on a penetrating ball through the middle and the crafty forward rounded out the scoreline at 6-1.

Backs Woolston, John Driscoll, Colin Hickey, Elliott Rippe and Eric Rolfs and center midfielders Charlie Booth, Charlie Cacciola and Michael Haley held the visitors to just one attacking opportunity in the second half and only two shots for the match.