Marco dos Santos' Masterclass Puts Seacoast United Top of Table
Marco dos Santos led the Phantoms to defeat the Pioneers at the Lusitano Stadium with a goal and an assist to his name.
In a physical and scrappy contest, Marco dos Santos proved to be the difference as he led the Seacoast United Phantoms to a 3-2 victory away against the Western Mass Pioneers.
The Pioneers conceded their first goal of the season and lost out on the top spot to Seacoast who are now the only team not to drop points in the Northeast Division of USL League 2. The game saw eight players total booked as the physical level of the game indicated how much was on the line.
“I thought the first half we were absolutely brilliant and should’ve been more than two goals up,” said Seacoast United head coach Alex Ryan. “Coming to this venue is always exciting and a win here doesn’t come by very easily.”
Marco dos Santos opened the scoring as Ibrahim Conde picked Adu-Gyamfi’s pocket and laid it off for Taig Healy. Healy then poked the ball toward dos Santos who stepped over the ball and struck the ball under Pioneer goalie Gianluca Cersosimo’s arm.
“It’s a very exciting team,” Ryan said. “From an attacking perspective we’ve got really exciting players. Scoring three goals here is a testament to the players and how well they played, but with all due respect we should’ve scored more.”
After opening the scoring Seacoast began to dictate the game as Healy and dos Santos floated by players in the Pioneer’s half.
Just before the half, Shun Kushima cut a pass from Adu-Gyamfi and played dos Santos. The 19-year-old winger turned on his first touch and raced toward the Pioneers’ box. As he approached the goal, he laid it off for Conde to place into the bottom corner and score the second for the Phantoms.
Right after kick-off, dos Santos came close to doubling his tally as he smashed a free kick over the wall and onto the crossbar.
“I was pissed [when I hit the crossbar],” said dos Santos. “I’ve been wanting to score a free-kick, but it made me want to keep going and get the next one.”
Molinari made changes at the half and brought on Leonel Vergara, Patrick Gryczewski, and Mamadi Jiana for Camilo Comi, Adu-Gyamfi, and Zach Sauer.
In the 53rd minute, Alec Hughes pulled one back for the Pioneers from a corner taken by Jared Smith. Smith has three assists from corner kicks this season, two of them being for Hughes. As the Pioneers looked to equalize, dos Santos took back the momentum as he nutmegged Smith and Jiana on the right wing in the 57th minute.
Two minutes later, a loose ball fell to Terry Makedika who took on Vergara before playing a ball for Healy. The Seacoast midfielder put the ball on his left foot and struck the ball into the back of the goal from outside the 18-yard box.
Down two goals, Jiana kept the Pioneers in the game as he attempted to create from the left wing.
“I know I have the pace and want to take people on,” Jiana said after the game. “I thought the whole team overall played well, but it just wasn’t meant to be our day.”
In the 65th minute, Jiana broke into the Seacoast box and went down after receiving a shove from Charles Strine. The ref called for a penalty kick and Hughes converted for his seventh goal of the season.
The Pioneers then pushed to an equalizer but failed to muster a shot on target in the last 20 minutes.
In the 80th minute, Ryan subbed off booked forwards dos Santos and Conde to shift to a defensive approach.
After calling a foul on Hughes in the fifth minute of stoppage time while the striker chased down a cross, the referee blew for full-time.
Seacoast continues its season on Tuesday, June 11th as they host Vermont Green FC at 6 p.m. The Pioneers host AC Connecticut on the same day at 7 p.m.