Wednesday October 24, 2012

BRATTLEBORO -- A couple of twins met up on Tuesday afternoon at Sawyer Field, but they clearly aren’t identical.

With players sporting mohawks, reverse mohawks, ponytails and what could only be described as a blind barber, the far superior No. 2 Twin Valley boys soccer team trounced 15th seeded Twinfield, 4-0, in a Division 4 playdown.

"We took care of business," said Twin Valley coach Buddy Hayford, whose team will host No. 10 Arlington in Friday’s quarterfinal at 3 p.m. "I thought we got some really pretty goals today. We moved the ball nicely."

Midfielder Colin Lozito had a part in all four of his team’s burials. He finished with one goal, two assists and also glanced a shot off the crossbar that set up Tony Tarr’s rebound tally.

"Colin was his usual do everything, be everywhere self," added Hayford. "Tony Tarr, Dal Nesbitt and Colin are the heart and soul of this team."

Lozito put the pressure on right from the start. He unloaded from way out, made a pretty rally up the gut, and later showed off his touch by chipping a pass ahead to Tarr.

And 16 minutes in, the jockey-sized captain settled a throw-in and slipped a pass ahead to Nick Nilson, who put it past goalie Caleb Benoche to give the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage. Nilson started celebrating immediately and the Twin Valley followers began pounding their drums on the far side.

Seven minutes later, Lozito drove a shot off of the

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crossbar and Tarr cleaned up the rebound to make it 2-0. Lozito would eventually give Twin Valley a 3-0 lead, when he took a throw-in from Dal Nesbitt and punched it into the back of the net.

Twin Valley keeper Sam Molner, who only had to make a couple of saves in the opening half, watched a lot of shots miss their mark over the last 40 minutes. Twinfield’s Henry John pushed one wide right, Avery Tait put one just over the crossbar, and Even Popp missed high twice.

Benoche, who is the Trojans’ leader, never gave up. He often reminded his team how much time they had left to come back, along with urging them on to win the ball or be aggressive.

"He is a terrific keeper," noted the Twin Valley coach. "He did all he could to keep them in the game."

Nilson kept pestering him, including an open look from the top of the box, a shot that missed wide left, and a fine lead pass to Tarr. Lozito and Tarr teamed up for a pretty give-and-go play, Morrow Bernard almost delivered with a header, and Cade Nesbitt made a nice play in the back end to stop a threat by Miguel Gonzales.

Dal Nesbitt capped the scoring with 13 minutes remaining, as he put away a cross from Lozito.

Hayford said that Jeremy Hunt, Oscar Smith, Conall Sullivan, DJ Lazelle and Dylan Johnson all played well defensively for his Wildcats, who improved to 12-3 with the victory.

In the other Division 4 playdown games on Tuesday, No. 1 Proctor pounded No. 16 Long Trail 8-0, No. 9 West Rutland edged No. 8 United Christian 1-0, No. 10 Arlington blanked No. 7 Chelsea 4-0, No. 3 Danville ousted No. 14 South Royalton 1-0, and No. 6 Cabot creamed No. 11 Rochester 11-0.

Shane Covey can be reached at scovey@reformer.com or by calling 802-254-2311, ext. 163.