STANDISH — Westbrook scored three early goals and went on to a 4-2 win over Bonny Eagle in an SMAA boys’ soccer game Saturday.
The Blue Blazes were without their coach, Greg Cavanaugh, who attended a wedding. The girls’ coach, Andy Lefebvre, replaced him.
“They needed that win. They have six wins now so from a Heal point standing, that’s good,” said Lefebvre. “Hopefully that’s the momentum they need to take them into the playoffs.”
Gradi Lapika had two goals and an assist for the Blue Blazes (6-3-2), who held a 22-7 advantage in shots.
Lapika opened the scoring with 30:21 left in the half – Bonny Eagle keeper Zack Moody came out to challenge on the right side but Lapika beat him to the spot and scored on the open net – and made it 2-0 less than nine minutes later. He also assisted on the final goal of the game, by his brother, Jonathan.
“(Lapika) finishes both of those goals with the inside of his feet going to the side netting. Those were great finishes by him,” said Lefebvre.
Varney Kai made it 3-0 with 14:18 remaining in the half, a shot that was deflected by a defender and found the top right corner of the net.
“Varney’s a great player, and when he can control the game with his feet and then open up and start to shoot from distance, it really opens up the game even more. Now you have to defend at another level,” said Lefebvre.
“(Coach) told me to come out, play hard and take shots when I get the opportunity to shoot,” said Kai. “I had the opportunity to shoot there, took the shot, and luckily it deflected off a player and went in. It was a good goal.”
Ryan Moody scored twice for Bonny Eagle (3-5-2) before Westbrook put it away.
Moody’s first goal came with 1:11 left in the half. He stole the ball from a defenseman deep in the zone and delivered with his left foot.
“We needed a goal there to kind of shift momentum back in our favor,” said Bonny Eagle Coach Larry Robertson.
“I think that goal was vital for us to be able to come out in the second half and put pressure on them.”
Robertson also felt his team could have taken more shots from outside.
“Westbrook did a really good job of having numbers back,” he said. “When you’re a high school kid, you don’t want a deflection, you’re looking for the goal. I think we were more hesitant because of their back line to shoot from outside.”
Zack Moody was solid in net for Bonny Eagle, racking up 11 saves.
“Zack is a great goalie, a very good shot stopper,” said Robertson.
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