The coach in David Pereira needed his Somerville group to stay centered on the sideline for your entire 48 minutes.
The human component in Pereira knew higher.
Midway by means of the fourth quarter of Friday’s 29-0 win over Chelsea, one which was about snap a 23-game shedding streak, Pereira noticed his gamers celebrating as in the event that they received a Super Bowl. He admitted it was powerful attempting to stability the 2.
“Oh man, I was just trying to keep control,” stated Pereira, who took over for Makonnen Fenton this 12 months. “I needed them to behave like they’ve been there earlier than, however for a lot of the youngsters, they hadn’t received a recreation earlier than so I perceive the feelings.
“I was so happy that this happened on Senior Night. All the work and sacrifice those kids put in finally paid off.”
A Somerville native, Pereira attended Matignon and performed faculty soccer at Framingham State. By that cut-off date, Pereira already caught the teaching bug. He served as an assistant beneath Bob Almeida at Stoneham and Yann Kumin at Belmont earlier than accepting the Somerville job in February. Although he wasn’t a part of this system, Pereira knew he was going to roll up his sleeves and get to work straight away.
“I knew this was going to be a project,” stated Pereira, 32. “The first thing I wanted to do was turn us into a functional program and that was going to take time. I knew that if we did the little things, the results would eventually come.”
Easier stated than achieved for a program which hadn’t received a recreation since Oct. 25, 2019, when the Highlanders defeated Medford, 21-16. It didn’t look any higher from the surface when Somerville opened the season with seven straight losses, all by 27 factors or extra.
“The losing part was tough, but I really could see us making some progress,” Pereira stated. “It’s one of those things when you’re not as good as you think you are when you win and not as bad as people think when you are losing. I could see the resiliency building and the passion never left them. The team bonding we did in the summer really helped us get through this.”
The Somerville group that trotted onto Dilboy Field Friday was one able to lastly style the fruits of victory. The Highlanders took a 15-0 lead into the half and progressively pulled away from the Red Devils. It was time for Pereira to present his first postgame victory speech, one his gamers waited three years to listen to.
“I told them everything they went through in the summer, the early morning lifting, the team bonding, the sacrificing, was for moments like this,” Pereira stated. “They completed something and I was so happy for them.”
Sweet 16
1. Catholic Memorial (7-0): Knights had been pushed to the restrict earlier than rallying within the last minutes to subdue Xaverian to increase the win streak to 24.
2. Xaverian (6-2): Hawks actually confirmed that they are going to be a participant within the Div. 1 match.
3. Andover (8-0): Slow begin however an electrical end for the undefeated Golden Warriors.
4. Central Catholic (6-2): Raiders taking part in their greatest ball heading into the match.
5. St. John’s Prep (6-2): Joenel Aguero being well worth the worth of admission may qualify because the understatement of the 12 months.
6. Reading (8-0): Rockets capped an undefeated common season with their seventh double-digit win.
7. Mansfield (7-1): Defense proves to be an excessive amount of as soon as once more because the Hornets publish their fourth shutout.
8. Duxbury (7-0): Dragons enter the Div. 4 state match as one of many high contenders for the crown.
9. King Philip (6-1): Warriors’ undefeated run ended on the finish of large killer North Attleboro.
10. Milford (7-1): Talk about making a press release getting into the postseason.
11. Peabody (8-0): Tanners clearly had no competitors within the Northeastern Conference.
12. Milton (8-0): Mustangs flip in a strong workmanlike effort in opposition to Natick.
13. Billerica (8-0): Indians shut out the common season with a win over Haverhill.
14. Methuen (6-2): All Eason on a regular basis method working properly right here.
15. North Attleboro (5-2): Red Rocketeers have some good wins on their resume.
16. Franklin (5-2): Panthers should regroup in a rush after the 19-point loss to Milford.
ON THE BENCH: Everett (7-1), Chelmsford (7-1), Brockton (7-1), Plymouth South (8-0), Marblehead (7-1), Wakefield (8-0)
Source: www.bostonherald.com