By Mike Rubin

After a slow start to the season, the Somerville boys soccer team may have begun to right the ship. Following a 1-1 season opening tie against Bedford, the Highlanders suffered a tough 3-2 defeat in the Greater Boston League opener to Medford.

Battling back, the Highlanders recovered with a pair of convincing wins over Marblehead (7-0) and Malden (4-0) before suffering a tough 1-0 loss to Billerica on Saturday. As a result, the Highlanders currently stand at 2-2-1 overall.

“We need to execute and take advantage of our opportunities,” said coach George Scarpelli. “In the (Billerica) game, we had plenty of chances to score goals, but we didn’t execute and didn’t follow through with finishes. It was a tough loss because (Billerica) was a game that I thought we definitely could’ve won.”

In the Billerica loss, both teams created quality scoring opportunities, but couldn’t capitalize throughout the first half. In the second half, the Highlanders created multiple scoring chances with Homero Morais emerging on a breakaway, only for his shot to land over the crossbar.

With a 0-0 tie looming ahead, Billerica notched the game winning goal with just 36 seconds remaining in the contest.
“We let one slip away, and we outshot them by a lot,” said Scarpelli. “We won the balls, and dominated territorial play, but we couldn’t finish, and that hurt us. We’re hoping we’ll be able to bounce back and put together another strong effort.”

In a 4-0 win over Malden last Wednesday, the Highlanders were guided by a balanced scoring attack. Providing the offensive spark was Manzillo Zarill, Tyrone Mirade along with Rodrigues Pierre and Homero Morais.

Grabbing a 2-0 halftime lead, the Highlanders secured the win with goals by Pierre and Morais midway through the second half.

“Everyone came out and played very well, and it was a nice way to get a win in the league,’’ said Scarpelli. “We came out and executed, and never really let our guard down. Our defense and midfielders played extremely well.”

In a non league game early last week, the Highlanders dominated in a 7-0 win over Marblehead. Leading the way was Moais and Mirade, who recorded three goals apiece while Louis Guerra added a tally.