The first game to be played on East Hampton High School's turf field in a long while was contested by the East Hampton and Pierson boys soccer teams Monday in typically brisk Bonac spring weather.
The nonleaguer — the first of the season for both teams — was, in contrast, hotly contested, though the Bonackers proved to be the more solid squad, and thus wound up winning 2-0.
East Hampton scored midway through the first half, following a breakaway by Eric Armijos down the right side, and with six minutes remaining in the game, off a corner kick, one of 14 the Bonackers were to be awarded that afternoon — five in the first half, nine in the second.
The Whalers, coached that day by Marc Schimmer, standing in for Peter Solow, played well defensively, but finished with no corner kicks and with only one shot on goal, in the 18th minute, by which time the Bonackers had a number of passes into Pierson's goal mouth, though to no effect.
Armijos capped his breakaway, which occurred within a minute after Christopher Barahona's sole save, with a hard angled shot toward the left post from about 10 yards out. Striking the inside of the post, the ball ricocheted across the goal line to the right one, and, before anyone could shout "goal," the ball bounced out in front onto the foot of Michael Ortiz, who made sure, as Pierson's goalie, Nick Collage, reversed course, that it went over the line.
To strengthen East Hampton's attack, at halftime Don McGovern, East Hampton's coach, moved his son, Matt, who had begun the game as an attacking midfielder, up to key the forward line.
The move resulted in even more scoring opportunities, as McGovern frequently fed his fellow forwards with head flicks or one-touch passes.
Pierson's goalie not only had to face added pressure in the second half, he also had the lowering sun in his eyes. And yet he held up well.
The sun had passed below the horizon, however, by the time Armijos, who is a sophomore, scored East Hampton's second goal, converting Alexander Chavez's corner kick in the 74th minute.
"Yeah, for the first game we did a nice job," Don McGovern was to say later. "We kept our composure and created great chances. I would have liked to have had a few more goals, but that's the nature of the game, isn't it?"
"Defensively, we were solid in the back," McGovern added, thanks largely, he said, to Robert Rea, the junior center back.
"It's a nice group, they work hard, they're happy to be out there. . . . Every game we'll get better."
Besides the above-named, the following players fill out East Hampton's roster: Robert Velez, Matthew Lucero, Emilio Yanez, Ben Barris, Nicolas Cifuentes Diaz, Christian Gomez, and Aaron Sarmiento, senior defenders; Christopher Pintado, David Ayala, and Burton Garneau, senior midfielders; Randy Pizarro, Brandon Vicuna, Manuel Ruiz, Eric Barahona, and Jason Chunchi, junior midfielders; Hudson Musnicki, Steve Rubio-Vargas, Sebastian Betancourt, Kevin Ruiz, and Alex Vanegas, senior forwards, and John Quizhpe and Bryan Solano, junior forwards. Neyser Butan, a junior, is the backup goalie.