First-year player provides late-game heroics for Dartmouth boys soccer

DARTMOUTH — After playing club for MLS Next, Brennan Carter decided he wanted to give high school soccer a try.

So he and two of his club teammates — Niall Fogarty and Caleb DaSilva — came out for Dartmouth High ’s squad this year.

They’ve had an immediate impact.

“They’re just so calm and cool on the ball,” said Dartmouth head coach Josh Silva. “Not only that but their leadership and their communication — they have us playing at a high level.”

Carter, a junior defender, had a hand in both of Dartmouth’s goals in the final two minutes as his team rallied for a 2-2 tie with rival New Bedford High on Thursday afternoon at Dartmouth Memorial Stadium.

“We kept our heads up even though we were losing,” Carter said. “We just kept pushing through it.”

New Bedford led 2-0 with less than three minutes to play when Carter assisted on a goal by Dartmouth senior Nicholas Silvia to pull Dartmouth within 2-1.

“I thought Nick Silvia in the last five minutes stepped up in terms of his leadership, demanding the ball, holding these guys accountable, getting us up,” Silva said. “There were a lot of things that weren’t on paper so to speak that he did in the last five minutes.”

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A few moments later, Carter scored the tying goal on a pass from senior Ethan Medeiros to knot the game at 2.

“I went up and saw the opportunity and took it and it worked out,” Carter said.

It was Carter’s third goal of the season.

“He was great for us today,” Silva said. “He definitely brings that physicality. He’s not afraid of the big moments. I thought he played extremely well today. That was a huge goal.”

Carter said that moments like Thursday make playing for Dartmouth High so special.

“A lot of my friends play on this team so I just wanted to come play with all my friends,” he said. “It’s definitely different soccer, knowing the kids you are playing with instead of playing with strangers. We go out there and we work for each other.”

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HOW IT HAPPENED

New Bedford got on the scoreboard just before halftime when junior Carlentz Jean Pierre scored on a penalty kick, giving the Whalers a 1-0 lead at the intermission.

New Bedford added another goal when senior Guylens-Lie Mojar scored on a breakaway with 16:58 left in the game, but Dartmouth rallied with two goals in the final two minutes.

“I was happy with 78 minutes of the game. The last two minutes were a little disheartening,” said New Bedford head coach John Macaroco. “It’s tough to play here. We know Dartmouth. They’re a team that they don’t give up. They just keep pushing and they get after you.”

Silva likes how his team responded down the stretch.

“I was super proud of the boys in terms of being down two goals against New Bedford with less than three minutes left and being able to tie it up which was huge,” he said.

WHAT IT MEANS

Dartmouth, which moves to 6-1-2, visits Bishop Stang on Monday. … New Bedford (3-3-4), visits GNB Voc-Tech on Saturday night.

STATS

New Bedford goalie Nelson Molina finished with eight saves while Dartmouth goalie Carter Bates had six saves. … Dartmouth outshot New Bedford 9-8 in the game.

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: First-year player provides late-game heroics for Dartmouth boys soccer