Although the Wilton High boys soccer team got off to a fast start this season with five wins and two ties in their first eight games, the Warriors now find themselves in an unexpected rut.
And suddenly unable to score goals.
For the second game in a row, Wilton was held scoreless Thursday night, falling to visiting Trumbull, 2-0, at Kristine Lilly Field.
The blanking followed Tuesday's 1-0 road loss to Darien and left the Warriors scoreless over the last 160-plus minutes.
On Thursday night, Wilton (5-3-2) was again out-hustled by its opponent and was clearly forcing its play, firing off passes with no purpose. It was evident early on that the Eagles came to play and wanted the win more than the Warriors.
“You figure it out. We played great against Danbury [a 3-2 victory last Friday] with three goals in a driving rain storm," said Wilton head coach Jim Lewicki. "Now we had two games with prefect weather and we can’t put one in the net; it’s hard to explain.”
“Early in the season, whoever I put out on the field gave me good minutes and I felt we didn’t miss a beat," added Lewicki. "Us coaches need to figure out what’s now not working and make the necessary changes.”
Trumbull took the lead early, with a goal in the eighth minute of play. Arin Lara weaved his way through the Warrior defense and tucked a shot into the corner of the net. The entire Wilton back line got caught ball-watching on the play and let Lara go unmarked to the net.
All game long, the Eagles were sending long diagonal balls to the wings, looking for players to track them down. In the 57th minute that strategy paid off for the visitors, as they tacked on their second goal.
Chris Lancia latched on to one of those passes, dribbled toward the net and hit a line drive shot that skipped past the Wilton goalie for a 2-0 Trumbull advantage.
The Warriors kept trying to work the ball up the field, but Trumbull showed great anticipation and stepped in front of passes, stopping Wilton's build-up. The Eagles were also physical, pushing Wilton off the ball.
In the 63rd minute, striker Harry Allers tried to get a goal back for the Warriors, but the Trumbull keeper punched his shot over the net.
“We’ve been a little unlucky the last few games, with the other team scoring on us first," said Wilton senior captain Jack Brandt.“We put our heads down after that and let the early goals affect the way we played, and we shouldn’t have.
"We clearly have had some lapses in communication and we have some mental issues we need to fix," added Brandt. "I’m confident we’ll work through them and get back to where we were early in the season."