Nearly two weeks had passed since the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School boys soccer team played its last regular-season game, but the top seed in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 1 tournament showed no signs of rust Monday evening.
The Falcons scored three goals in the first 15 minutes en route to a dominant 6-1 victory over No. 32 Chelmsford in the round of 32.
“The goal of the game was that most of the starters were off the second half, and I think we executed that pretty well,” said junior Elias Hyland, who scored two of the first three goals and assisted on the other. “[The layoff] was a little weird, but we picked up well. We had a lot of rest, too.”
Classmate Mathias Asnake also recorded a brace. Senior Noam Killian and sophomore Leo Davis scored one apiece for the Falcons (12-1-3), who extended their winning streak to 10.
They’ll host the winner of no. 16 Winchester and no. 17 Belmont Wednesday at 5 p.m. CRLS beat Belmont 3-0 on Oct. 17 at home and bested Winchester 4-1 in the last game of the regular season 10 days ago.
Off to a fast start
CRLS coach Olf Mouyaka expects a competitive match. He liked the way his team played in its tournament opener, and noted the Falcons must stay organized for the full 80 minutes and not get complacent.
“The fast start, we talked about it and delivered,” the coach said. “When you talk about what needs to happen and it comes in the first couple minutes, that works out for us.”
For the team’s two leading scorers, it’s also about maintaining humility.
“We just hold each other accountable,” Asnake said. “We just make sure that we don’t talk cocky, don’t play cocky, we don’t do silly things at practice.”
“Just stay with the same work, same everything,” Hyland said.
The visiting Lions (11-6-3) beat No. 33 Brockton 2-1 in a preliminary round match on Saturday at home.
Quick strike
The Falcons earned two early corner kicks, and struck first less than four minutes in when Hyland found space in front of the box.
The midfielder maneuvered through traffic and worked some nifty moves before he uncorked a shot into the bottom corner of the goal. A few minutes later, Hyland set up classmate Mathias Asnake for an electric goal scored on a bicycle kick.
Four minutes later, it was Asnake on the assist to Hyland. The striker dribbled from near-midfield to the box and served up a pass for Hyland to boot in.
“We know what [each other] wants to do,” Asnake said.
The duo also plays club soccer together for NEFC and probably have played nearly 75 games together between all teams, Hyland estimated.
“We just know how we move,” Hyland said, “and we have a great time out there.”
The Falcons added an insurance goal off a corner kick in the waning moments of the opening half when Kilian tapped in a loose ball.
Chelmsford scored when freshman Aiden Kivlan potted a goal off a penalty kick three minutes into the second half.
Asnake scored his second goal midway through the second half when he banged in a shot that careened off the far post. A few minutes later, Davis finished a cross to conclude the scoring.
One down, four to go
In a postgame huddle, Mouyaka quizzed his players on how many games they have left. One win down, and four to go, they hope.
“We wanted to make a statement,” Mouyaka said. “Everyone wants to beat the top team. To us, it only makes sense to start out games the way we did and finish them out that way too.”
A stronger
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