Panthers drop heartbreaker, bounce back with victory

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The Johnston boys’ soccer team has come up just short multiple times in the early season, but none of its narrow defeats were more crushing than Friday’s 3-2 loss to Cranston East.

The Panthers’ Marcelo Duarte scored the game-tying goal late in stoppage time, but East broke the brief deadlock less than a minute later with a stoppage time goal of its own.

Johnston made one last push before the final whistle blew, but the game ended up as the Panthers’ third consecutive loss by two or fewer goals. It previously lost 1-0 to Ponaganset and 4-2 to Burrillville.

“We played okay, we just aren’t mentally strong,” Johnston head coach Dan Mazzulla said. “You give up a goal in 30 seconds after you tie a game, it’s all up here. They’re not mentally tough.”

Johnston fell to 0-4-1 with the loss, although it did rebound on Tuesday with a 3-1 victory over Davies to finally put a notch in the win column. Duarte scored again, while Kervin Hernandez had a goal and an assist. Anthony Moio had the other goal.

Still, the loss to East was a difficult one to take. Johnston largely controlled play, but gave up two second-half goals – including the brutal game-winner – that could have been avoided.

“They don’t know how important a point is,” Mazzulla said.

The game was actually tied at one for most of the way, until East’s Franz Bejarano got behind the Johnston defense and buried a shot into the left side, past Johnston keeper Devon Atkinson.

That looked like it would be the game winner, as the clock ticked past the 80-minute mark then past the 83-mintue mark.

But Johnston wasn’t quite done. Nick Cabral took a corner kick for the Panthers, and East tried to head it out. Instead, the ball rolled to the foot of Duarte, who took one touch and then ripped the ball into the left corner of the net.

Again, it looked the outcome was pretty much settled – a 2-2 tie.

East saw it differently.

“We looked at the clock, and we were like, ‘There’s two minutes left,’” East’s Dennis Vasquez said. “Coach switched me up (to the midfield from sweeper), we knew we had to get the goal quick.”

At the 84:07 mark, Vasquez led a charge up the middle and a few passes later, Eric Jesus had possession. He put a shot near the net from the left, and Johnston tried to clear it, but the ball ricocheted off a defender’s foot and flew backwards into the goal for the game-winner.

“I moved Dennis right back into the middle,” East head coach Richard Grenier said. “He pressured the ball. We had them backpedaling and they made a mistake, we capitalized on it and then got the game-winner.”

The referee deemed that there was still stoppage time remaining after that goal, so Johnston then made one final push to try and tie it again, but the ball bounced around in East’s box before being cleared just prior to the final whistle. Mazzulla thought there was a handball in the box, but it wasn’t called and the ’Bolts prevailed.

“There was a handball,” Mazzulla said. “The last kick down there. He put his hand up and it looked like it got his chest. We shouldn’t have been in that situation anyway.”

East was largely in control in the first half, and it got the first goal the game in the 30th minute. Kenny Vang won the ball at midfield, then sent a through ball up the left side to Vasquez. Vasquez out-muscled a Johnston defender by the left side of the goal, then slid a shot into short-side of the net for a 1-0 lead.

“This week, both games we’ve controlled the game in the first half with some nice passing,” Grenier said.

Seven minutes later, Johnston got the equalizer when Jared Podmaska headed a ball toward the net. East couldn’t get it out, and Duarte cleared some room for himself and knocked home a shot past keeper Jimmy Vang to make it 1-1.

The second half was largely Johnston dominated, although East keeper Tommy Logan – the normal starter who was sidelined in the first half due to injury – kept the game tied with a few strong saves, including one in the 41st minute on a clean breakaway Hernandez.

With the Panthers constantly pressuring, Grenier moved Vasquez back to sweeper, and that neutralized most of their rushes. East then got the goal in the 73rd minute to take the lead before the intense final 10 minutes.

“That should never happen,” Mazzulla said.

With already one win since the East loss, though, Johnston is working on turning the corner. It will have another strong opportunity at a win on Friday, when it hosts Exeter-West Greenwich at 3:30 p.m. EWG is currently 1-2-1.

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