Our Lady of Mount Carmel broke open an early 1-1 tie with two consecutive goals from Zakk Arciaga and eventually built a 4-1 lead, before settling for a 4-2 season-opening soccer victory over visiting St. Vincent Pallotti, in a season opener for both squads last Thursday at Mount Carmel.
The Cougars of the MIAA C Conference drew first blood on the B Conference Panthers when Cody Setchik centered a pass to Mark Concordia, early in the opening half, and Concordia placed a left footed strike in the upper left hand corner from 25 yards out.
Pallotti quickly countered with an equalizing goal, off of a corner kick, but Arciaga netted his first goal just before half time to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead. He then scored again early into the second half, after chasing down a long pass from Damien Allen and beating the Pallotti goalkeeper near post.
Freshmen Alex Wildberger and Bobby Sanzone, both playing in their first high school match, combined to close out the Cougar�s scoring. Sanzone played a long through ball to Wildberger who raced down the field and pushed it past a sliding keeper to give Mount Carmel a 4-1 advantage.
Pallotti closed out the scoring, with less than a minute to play, when it successfully converted a penalty kick.
Brett Shepard finished with 4 saves in the net for the Cougars. His substitute in the 60th minute, Mike Krannebitter finished with 3 saves.