Central boys stay perfect, blank Portsmouth, 4-0

PORTSMOUTH, NH — Senior captain Martin Lubunga scored a pair of goals, one coming on a second-half penalty kick, to lead Central High past Portsmouth, 4-0, Thursday evening at Daubney Field.

With the win, the Little Green improved to 4-0-0 under first-year Head Coach Maid Ahmic. Despite the fast start to the season, Ahmic sees plenty of room for improvement before his team faces clubs in the top tier of Division 1.

“It’s a good start but there’s work to do. We could do better. We were sloppy at times. We still haven’t put our best game out there,” said Ahmic, who had previously coached the Little Green JV squad. “We have some good moments, putting together 15 or 20 minutes here and there but we need to put together a whole 80-minute performance.”

Sophomore keeper Samuel O’Toole made six saves, giving Central its first shutout of the young season. Martino Cueto and senior captain Julian Favorite added single goals.

Temperatures that topped out at 91 degrees caused school officials to move the start of the game from 4:30 to 5 p.m. Even so, given the sweltering heat and humidity, the referees allowed for “water breaks” midway through each half, giving players a chance for extra hydration.

Central seized control early and looked to be laying the foundation of a rout. Cueto beat Portsmouth keeper Aiden Piela (5 saves) in the 7th minute to give the Little Green a 1-0 lead. The visitors pressed the attack and Lubunga found the back of the net in the 12th minute to make it 2-0.

But that early lead seemed to sow seeds of complacency through the Little Green roster. Central lost its sense of urgency and Portsmouth took advantage, controlling play through the final 20 minutes of the half. Clippers’ forward Lucas Milne got a clean look in the 27th minute, only to be denied by O’Toole. A short time later, it was Milne again, ripping a blast that barely cleared the crossbar.

With the Little Green back on their heels, Portsmouth maintained the pressure, dominating the midfield and generating quality scoring bids. O’Toole was up to the task, making a brilliant punch save on a free kick by James DeDeus, then punching clear the subsequent corner, again by DeDeus.

“All credit to Portsmouth, they pushed us. But I think that after the two goals, our guys took the foot off the gas a little,” said Ahmic. “We got sloppy. We weren’t making passes. We were just hoping a couple of guys in the middle would do all the work for us.”

With a chance to regroup at intermission, Central found its game and dominated play in the second half. Spurred by the play of Lubunga, the Little Green regained control of the midfield and began buzzing the front of the Portsmouth net. Piela made a nice stop on a bid by Landon Vasquez, while a blast by Favorite was just wide.

Portsmouth’s best scoring chance of the second half came in the 63rd minute. Junior Sawyer Bouvier took the ball deep on the right wing, made a nifty move to get a clean look and rocketed a shot the seemed destined for the far corner of the Central net. But O’Toole played it perfectly, making a leaping save, controlling the ball and sending it back downfield.

Moments later, Lubunga chipped a lead pass into the penalty box for Vasquez. The speedy sophomore reached the ball a fraction of a second ahead of Piela, making first contact. Piela slammed his shoulder into Vasquez, driving him into the turf and drawing a whistle and resulting in a penalty kick for Central. Lubunga used a stutter-step move and easily beat Piela to push the lead to 3-0.

Less than two minutes later, Favorite closed the scoring, converting a perfect crossing pass by Vasquez.

Central will be back in action Tuesday, 6:30 p.m., playing host to Exeter (1-3-0) at Gill Stadium. On Thursday, the Little Green will face its first major test of the season, on the road at Nashua South (4-1-0).