The Wilton U12 boys’ soccer team notched their second win in a row Sunday afternoon, May 22, in a hard fought contest against Newtown. The teams took the field at Allen’s Meadow with Newtown coming out strong, quickly pressuring the defensive line of Dylan Bender, Scotty Mills and Tommy Lowell, along with Robbie Ballentine who was in net for the first half. The Wilton mids quickly pushed back however, and for the next 15 minutes attackers Matt Tabet, Christian Marroquin, and Luke Barbieri started breaking through the Newtown defense with a series of shots on goal. Finally at minute 20, striker Michael Cooper picked up a through ball, outmaneuvered two Newtown defenders and scored.
Newtown’s offense was determined and aggressive, however, and they quickly responded managing to loft one over Ballentine and in to the corner after a series of excellent saves by the Wilton keeper.
Wilton attackers then turned it up a notch, and Ross Edkins netted a second goal for Wilton on a pass from Cooper around the 23 minute mark, making the score 2-1. For the last 15 minutes of the first half, Wilton players Tyler Moody and Jack Dodman were fierce in turning back every Newtown attempt to cross the mid-field, and enabling Cooper and Edkins to again press downfield, with Edkins scoring his second goal just before the half. Wilton was up 3-0 at the midway point.
Coming into the second half, Mills had taken over as keeper, while Ballentine joined the defensive line. Newtown was looking to make up ground and forced two successive corners in the first five minutes, managing to score on the second one and making it 3-2. Wilton seemed to sense the pressure, and Ryan Leung and Tabet began to run away with the ball on the left and right sides of the field. With Barbieri and Marroquin frustrating Newtown defenders in the center part of the pitch, Matt Tully was able to press the attack and he scored on a pass from Moody around minute-60, giving Wilton Blue a two-goal lead.
With 15 minutes left in playing time, Newtown began challenging the Wilton defenders, but Lowell at center-D kept the line in shape, with Bender and Ballentine helping turn back several well-timed attacks and forcing a couple offsides calls against Newtown. Amir Sabovic also became a critical player at this point, executing some great steals in the midfield and helping feed one final surge by the Wilton Blue attackers. After watching several of his earlier shots go high, Moody spotted an opportunity in the box, and rolled one just past the Newtown keeper with about seven minutes left in the game, leaving the Wilton boys with a final score of 5-2, and some strong momentum headed into a Memorial Day tournament and the last series of games for the spring season.