MANCHESTER, NH – Two weeks after traveling to Nashua and defeating Bishop Guertin High School, 6-3, the Manchester Central High School boys soccer team welcomed those same Cardinals to town for a playoff matchup.
Though the final score was different, the final outcome remained consistent.
In this case, it was a 3-1 win for the Little Green at Gill Stadium Wednesday night in the Division I tournament opening round.
But the win wasn’t as easy as longtime Manchester Central head coach Chris LaBerge may have liked.
“The playoffs are always hard, and in the first round the kids are nervous and have to get it out of their system, and we played nervous in the first half a little bit,” he said. “And, you know, Bishop Guertin is up-and-coming. They’re turning it around. They’ve got a really good coaching staff. You know, they deserved their seeding after being down for a few years, so it’s never going to be easy going against a team like that, that believes in themselves, believes in their coach, believes in their style, and you can tell.”
Indeed, while the 6th-seeded Little Green came out timid, the 10th-ranked Cardinals came out eager to earn the upset, pushing the hosts into a one-goal deficit on a goal from Rayaan Hameed eight minutes int the contest.
“You know, we spotted them a goal, and we’re resilient, but you know, it’s one of those nights where you get a little nervous because you’re hitting some posts and you think maybe it’s not going to happen for you,” said LaBerge, “but I’m generally confident we can score three goals in a game, and that’s what we did tonight.”
The Little Green, in fact, bounced back less than nine minutes after falling behind. Beginning with a goal from junior Martin Lubunga at 16:40, Central took the lead less than two minutes later on a tally from Prince Ojha.
The combination of a BG red card and second half goal from Junior Mawette proved the proverbial nail into the coffin for the Cardinals.
The victory propels the Little Green onto Nashua, where they’ll play underdog to third-ranked Nashua North, though Central defeated the Titans a week ago, earning a 2-0 road win on Oct. 19.
“(North) is super talented, individually talented and well-coached as well. It’s one of those games where we kind of match up with them pretty well. They’re going to want to play the way we want to play, so it’s going to come down to who’s sharper,” said LaBerge. “You know, soccer is a funny thing. If we play like we did in the first half tonight against North, we could be in real trouble, so hopefully we learned a little lesson tonight.”
The reality, said LaBerge, is there are no easy outs at this point in the playoffs, a reality his program knows all-to-well. After winning three of four Division-I state championships from 2009 to 2012, Central hasn’t secured another state title despite three appearances in the state final and and a handful of trips to the semifinals.
“Everybody’s tough now … and you’re going to have to beat good teams to win it,” he said. “Fortunately, this year, we’ve been able to beat the top teams, so I don’t know what it is about our group. they seem to raise their game when they need to and we’ve kind of played down at times this year, so hopefully they’re up and on. If we don’t have it figured out now, you know you’ve got to win four in a row, everybody does, and it’s hard. This year is unbelievable.”
Now 12-4-1 on the season, the Little Green are 5-2 in the regular season against the remaining 7 playoff squads, including a 2-1 triumph over defending state champ Windham on Sept. 29. Their two setbacks in that group of contenders came by a goal each contest, a 1-0 loss at Exeter on Sept. 13 and a 2-1 home heartbreaker to Hanover on Oct. 13.
“It’s wide open,” said first-year BG coach Tyler VanDeventer. “Based off the records and all the games I’ve watched this year, (The Little Green) are definitely involved in the title contention, and they should be. They’re a powerhouse every year. They finish in the top half of the table year-after-year. No reason they can’t challenge for a title going forward. A roster with 11 seniors and 8 juniors, that’s experience.”
Central’s quarterfinal clash with North is currently scheduled for 1 p.m. at Nashua’s Holman Stadium with Manchester Memorial’s match against Nashua South immediately to follow creating a rare, and perhaps unprecedented Manchester/Nashua playoff doubleheader. The winners of those two contests are set to meet in the D-I semis Wednesday at 4 p.m.
