The final game of the regular season featured and intense and important match-up for West Hartford rivals Conard and Hall boys soccer, ending in a 3-1 win for the Titans. 

Sports reporting is sponsored by Keating Agency Insurance

By Paul Palmer

The Conard boys soccer team entered Tuesday’s matchup with Hall knowing one thing was certain. They needed a win or a tie to secure their place in the state tournament. Anything less and the season was over.

Things started off well for the Red Wolves when Max Simmons scored 11 minutes into the match. On the play, the senior captain was fed a through ball that sent him in on a 1-v-1 with a sliding Hall goalie Rodrigo Ballesteros. As the keeper came out to challenge, Simmons’ shot hit the post and deflected back out to Ballesteros who was on the ground.

When the goalie could not control the rebound while on his back, Simmons gathered in the loose ball and fired it home for the early 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately for Conard, that would be their only goal of the game, and the Titans ran off the next three goals in the regular season finale for both clubs.

Hall’s first goal came on a great individual effort by the speedy Diego Lemes. Taking the ball down the left side, beating several defenders, he then launched a perfect cross that found the foot on the on-rushing Liam Deloreto who banged it home to tie things up just :51 after the Red Wolves goal.

“Diego is so explosive,” said Deloreto of his teammate. “He made that goal for me.”

Four minutes later, Hall nearly took the lead when Sebbie Acker-Candela struck a beautiful bicycle kick, but Conard goalie Nate Dubois was there for the save. Ten minutes later it was the Titans pressing the attack again, and this time a long shot by Ben Goldstein was deflected in front of Dubois by one of his own defenders. The goalie had to use every inch of his body to dive back across the goal and stop the ball from rolling into the net.

There would be no more scoring in the first half which was played at a frantic pace with both sides using speed to push the transition game. Up front for Conard, Michael Guildner was the target for the Red Wolves. He was marked closely by Goldstein in one of the games’ better match-ups of two star players.

Conard opened the second half with a great scoring chance just four minutes in when Guildner ran onto a long ball. Goalie Ballesteros sprinted off his line and the two reached the ball at the same time with the goalie blocking the shot away with his legs on a perfectly timed slide.

Just over seven minutes into the second half it was Deloreto putting his team on top for good. Running diagonally with the ball he hit a rocket back across the grain that beat Dubois to make it 2-1. The play was set up by a pass from sophomore Eric Samuels. It was Deloreto’s 17th goal on the season and, making it more remarkable, the senior had played defense for coach Zeke Seguro’s team his first three seasons and only moved up front this season.

“He is nonstop for 80 minutes,” Seguro said of his captain. “Him, Diego, and Aiden (Winiarski) learned to play together off one another.” That work has been critical for a Titans team that began the season with just four players who had any significant varsity soccer experience.

Winiarski would score Hall’s final goal five minutes after Deloreto’s go-ahead tally. This time it was Grady Doyle beating two defenders on a run along the far side, before sending a perfect cross to Winiarski. The junior took the ball on the first touch and pounded it past a sliding Dubois as he raced across his net.

Each team would pick up a yellow card in the second half in what was a physical game.

“We’ve come a long way and understand it is time to come together as a team,” Seguro said. “They are trusting each other and the kids are more confident.”

Deloreto said that making the transition to full-time striker has been helped by his experience playing there for his club team, but also by the players and coaches at Hall. “I learned to be more physical and I feel I have gained from Zeke’s coaching and all my teammates.”

For the veteran Hall coach Seguro, the season has been about growing and coming together on the field. “We are not the same team we were in game 1 or game 5, or game 7 of the year.”

For Conard, (5-10-1), the loss caps a disappointing season that saw the team beset by injuries to a number of top players, never really giving coach Greg Smedberg a chance to field his top lineup on a regular basis. “This year we played with a chip on our shoulder,” said the second-year head coach. “We will be back … and healthy.”

It will be a quick turnaround for the Titans as they open play in the CCC Tournament on the road Thursday. The semifinals will be held on the 25th and the final on the 28th, both at Sage Park in Berlin.

After that the ninth-ranked Titans will most likely will start the state Class LL Tournament with a home game. Their 11-2-3 record is strong, but LL is loaded this year with three undefeated teams (Greenwich 15-0, Naugatuck 15-0, and Farmington 13-0-3), as well as a pair of one-loss teams all sitting ahead of the Titans in the state rankings.

“If we are healthy an avoid making silly mistakes, we can do something special in the tournament,” said Seguro.

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