Four goals in the first half and four more in the second pushed the Londonderry High boys’ soccer squad to an impressive 8-0 win over the host Spaulding High Red Raiders in Rochester last Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Senior midfielder Josh Rutina had himself a huge match for the victorious locals, netting four goals including three within a span of 17 minutes in the second half to help his Lancers move to 2-0 early in the season. Spaulding slid to 0-2.
The Lancers scored the only goal they’d need for the win a mere 35 seconds in when Luca Amarena was set up by Zack Deleo.
It became a 2-0 match in the 21st minute of play when Rutina notched his first tally on a set-up from Josh Ryan.
Tyler VanAvery put his side up 3-0 nine minutes later with an assist from Jack Brown, and the score advanced to 4-0 in the 35th minute when VanAvery set up Nick Dawe.
Rutina went on his stellar scoring run during the first 18 minutes of the second half in helping to put the match away. He scored in minutes numbers 41, 52, and 58 to get his personal scoring tally up to four for the day and the match score to 7-0.
Evan Vogler finished the scoring by netting an unassisted tally with four minutes remaining in the contest.
Ryan finished up with two assists in the lopsided win, and Owen Creed tallied a helper on one of Rutina’s second-half markers.
Londonderry goalie Alex Hufford could have used a rocking chair during this match as he didn’t need to make any saves in the shutout.
“When we move off the ball and find our shape early, we are fun to watch,” said LHS veteran coach Todd Ellis. “As we improve on this and improve on our speed of play, I am curious about our potential.”
After beginning its 2017 campaign with two long bus trips to Hanover and Rochester, the Lancers got to play at last a bit closer to home in a road match in Nashua against the host Bishop Guertin Cardinals this past Tuesday, Sept. 5, after Londonderry Times press time. The locals will play their first home match against Concord this Friday, Sept. 8. Londonderry came into the new campaign having to face eight of its first 10 matches on the road.