Another Dominant Week for Trojans
by Ken Brown
MARSHFIELD – The Twinfield-Cabot boys’ soccer team continued to enforce their will on both sides of the ball last week with lopsided victories over Oxbow and Blue Mountain, improving to 3-0 on the season.
Sophomore Darshan Eddleman found the back of the net twice to lead the Trojans to a convincing 5-1 home win over Oxbow last Tuesday. Cooper Bernatchy put Twinfield-Cabot up 1-0 three minutes into the match, but Andrew Barnet converted on a penalty kick to even the score at 1-1 for the Olympians with nine left in the first half. Eddleman broke free seven minutes later to give the Trojans a 2-1 advantage heading into the break.
“There were moments where we moved the ball really well and controlled tempo, but we had trouble maintaining a rhythm. Give credit to Oxbow, they played hard throughout,” said head coach Peter Stratman.
Freshman Tej Stewart continued his scoring ways, connecting twelve minutes into the second half to give the Trojans a two-goal advantage. Fellow freshman Sam McLane made it 4-1 three minutes later and Eddleman finished off the scoring barrage with his second tally of the day near the end of regulation. Neil Alexander made two stops on the day for Twinfield-Cabot and Oden Schlager made six saves in the loss for Oxbow.
“Oxbow created some quality chances throughout the match, but Neil did a fantastic job covering the box. It’s early in the season, so struggling to maintain that rhythm is to be expected. Our goal is to improve every time we take the pitch. The boys are working hard to execute and I am proud of their effort,” said Stratman.
Meles Gouge scored his second hat-trick of the young season on Saturday to lead Twinfield-Cabot to a 7-0 road win over division rival Blue Mountain. Tej Stewart continued to show a nose for the goal, scoring two more times and Darshan Eddleman capped off a stellar week with two more tallies of his own. Neil Alexander and the Trojan defense recorded their second shutout of the season in the win. Stratman’s talented squad sit atop of the Division IV standings, having outscored their opponents 25-1 through the first three matches.
“Blue Mountain played hard and they are restocking their program with some really talented young athletes. I feel good where we are this early in the season and the boys have done a good job honing their games, while taking care of who has been in front of us on the schedule so far. Having Tej and Darshan developing a knack for scoring has allowed us to put Meles in a natural point guard position on the field where he can distribute and dictate our offense. We have a lot of adjustments and growth ahead of us still, but it has made our team more versatile. We will get our biggest test in facing Burke I’m sure and we’re looking forward to it. They are full of elite athletes who are hardwired to win and it will be a big challenge for our team at this stage in the season,” said Stratman.
The Trojans hosted Division II Burke Mountain Academy on Tuesday and will end the week with a rematch with Blue Mountain at home.
