Hawks surge late to defeat Eagles, 4-2

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 9/22/16

The Bishop Hendricken boys’ soccer team watched its 2-0 lead over Barrington finally evaporate in the 54th minute on Tuesday night, causing some confusion on the pitch.

“We were butting …

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Hawks surge late to defeat Eagles, 4-2

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The Bishop Hendricken boys’ soccer team watched its 2-0 lead over Barrington finally evaporate in the 54th minute on Tuesday night, causing some confusion on the pitch.

“We were butting heads,” Hendricken forward Chukwuma Onyejose said. “We had just a lot of disagreement on the field. We’ve just got to stay together.”

The Hawks would come together and immediately saw the fruits of their labor. Lucas Gesmundo potted the game-winner and Chukwuma Onyejose completed his hat trick within two minutes of each other to secure the 4-2 victory.

“Every season you have different tests,” Hendricken head coach Michael Rooney said. “This is our fourth test, and tonight was a physical game. We actually responded, and it shows a lot in the character.”

Chukwuma Onyejose scored twice early in the first half, but Barrington (3-2-0) fought back. The Eagles locked down for the last 11 minutes before finding some offensive momentum heading into the break.

Ben Sylvester made a move in the box during the 38th minute, tricking his defender long enough to get a shot past Ryan Morel. Hendricken didn’t allow another before intermission, and the defense looked as though it wouldn’t bend again.

Neither side had much working early in the second half, but the Eagles found an opportunity to equalize and didn’t spoil it. Nick Rondeau took a pass just outside the box and dribbled past his defender, sending a laser off the leg of Morel and into the net.

Barrington had everything working, but the Hawks (4-0-0) didn’t collapse. The defense, led by the sterling play of sophomore Tucker Flint, was nearly impenetrable after that point. The Hawks had not scored in more than 40 minutes, though, and needed a breakthrough while Barrington matched their defensive intensity.

“There were some things I wasn’t happy about on the defense, so we’ll work on that, but it’s four games into the season,” Rooney said. “Most of the time we’ve been offensively good and so we haven’t had to work too much on our defense, but we’re going to have to.”

Enter Gesmundo, who already had a game-winner this year against Central Falls, in the 69th minute. Barrington’s Ben Gentile knocked a shot away in the box, but Gesmundo was left practically unmarked to place the ball in the open net.

“After Lucas scored I thought we had them,” Chukwuma Onyejose said.

The Eagles were scrambling, and the Hawks ambushed them to put the game away. Chukwuma Onyejose softly headed a pass over the arms of Gentile in the 71st minute, capping his hat trick and sealing the win.

The Hawks have two of the top five goal scorers in the state thus far, with Gesmundo and Chukwuma Onyejose tied for third with six goals apiece. Those numbers are first among Division I clubs.

Hendricken sits at the top of the table as it readies for a game next Tuesday at Max Read Field, where it will oppose Shea. The Raiders (1-3) have had a slow start to 2016 and are coming off a 3-2 loss to Portsmouth.

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