BRIGHTON — Twice the Rockport boys soccer team had the lead in Thursday afternoon’s Division 5 state quarterfinal at Brighton. But twice the host Bengals rallied back to tie it up.
That set the stage for a winner-take-all second half, and although they battled valiantly, it wasn’t meant to be for the Vikings.
After potting two timely equalizers to close out a chaotic opening 40 minutes, Brighton finally dropped in the game-winner midway through the final half. Tchinky Rosier took advantage of a rare defensive breakdown by Rockport, going at goal one-on-one with star keeper Zakarya Bouafi and beating him with a well struck boot across the pitch and into the far left side of the net.
Rockport pressed for an equalizer of its own down the stretch, but was never quite able to get a clean shot off as its season came to a close with a 3-2 defeat.
“They gave it their all, we just came up short,” said Rockport’s first-year head coach Conor Douglass, his team wrapping up a terrific year at 11-5-5. “This was a team that nobody really knew what the expectation was coming in, and the fact that we made it here was a success in itself. I’m very proud of them, and they should be very proud of themselves.”
The Vikings got off to an encouraging start on the road, as Flynn Blanchard buried a lengthy free kick from about the 25-yard line just under five minutes into action for a swift 1-0 lead.
After a miraculous save by Bouafi — who left his post to challenge a promising Brighton attack before retreating and slapping the ball away at the goal line at the last second — Brighton knotted things up on a penalty kick. Rockport had been whistled for a foul in the box on a slide tackle, and Bengals’ sophomore Daniel Garcia calmly knocked in the freebie.
Rockport then went ahead again on yet another set piece rocket from Blanchard, this time an indirect kick through traffic from the 12-yard line. That goal came in first half stoppage time, and it appeared the Vikings would cling to a 2-1 advantage at the break — but Brighton had other plans.
Generating a last minute scoring opportunity and finding himself in the box with possession, Garcia dished over to Haciel Zelaya who chipped one home just before the break.
It was a back and forth first half overall, with both teams battling for possession with regularity at midfield. Fortunately, Rockport had Blanchard’s strong foot to keep them in it.
“He’s a great player, he’s one of our captains for a reason,” Douglass said of Blanchard. “It seems like he steps up in the big situations for us every game and he’s only a junior, so he’s coming back next year and I think he’s gonna come back with a vengeance. He’s gonna want to get here again, so I’m excited for him and for that.”
Despite Blanchard’s heroics, Rockport was never really able to get untracked offensively down the stretch. They generated limited shots on goal, failing to string together enough crisp passes or find open space on Brighton’s side of the field.
“We played a formation where we only have one striker up top, so we were more focused on the midfield today and kind of shutting them down there which I think we did a great job of,” said Douglass. “But with that formation comes one striker, which is less scoring opportunities.”
The Bengals were extremely physical, too, and although Rockport answered the bell in that regard, it got a little bit too chippy in crunch time. That resulted in a slew of yellow cards and one red card with about 14 minutes to go, the latter of which forced the Vikings to play a man down as they chased one more goal.
The visitors did have one golden opportunity late in the box, but Deion Kasera — who played a tremendous game overall — couldn’t get a clean foot on the ball and his shot sailed wide. It was cold and there was a consistent rain throughout the second half, which certainly didn’t make things any easier.
“We haven’t really played a team like this where they’re diving every time there’s contact,” said Douglass. “But that’s in the ref’s hands; we can’t control the calls, just have to get up and keep going. But yeah, that was tough.”
As for playing a man down in the final 14-plus minutes of action, Douglass certainly recognized the uphill battle his team faced when that reality unfolded.
“It makes it that much harder, but the boys were still playing hard. They were hard fouls, it wasn’t like they were talking back to the ref or to the other team, they were 50/50 balls that in a regular season game it’s not a card,” said Douglass. “But tonight, (the referee) liked to give out cards and unfortunately it went the other way.”
Despite the loss, it was a sensational run for the Vikings in Douglass’ debut campaign at the helm. They’ll wave goodbye to some key seniors, including Charlie Donato, Timothy Patrick, Wyatt Wilkinson and the aforementioned Bouafi — “I personally think he’s the best goalie in the state without a question; he’s unbelievable,” said Douglass — but will have the luxury of returning 13 juniors and a slew of promising underclassmen in 2026.
The standard has been set, and all signs point to Rockport only elevating its status as a Division 5 playoff contender moving forward.
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.