Hernandez Leads E.P. to Victory

BRISTOL, R.I. – Jimmy Hernandez scored a pair of goals to point East Providence Sports to a 4-1 win over Lincoln Club (Bristol, R.I.) in the first leg of the second round of the LUSA Cup tournament on Sunday at Guiterras School Field.

Hernandez kicked off the scoring in the 19th minute and converted a 74th minute penalty. Alonso Villasenor tallied in 41st minute while Tristan Lewis connected in the 64th minute. Lincoln Club’s lone goal came from Josh Cabral after East Providence keeper Jimmi Underhill made a pair of acrobatic saves early in the contest.

The hosts were forced to play with ten men for nearly an hour after Tiago Soares was sent off following his second yellow card in the 36th minute.

By collecting four road goals, East Providence put Lincoln Club into the unenviable position of needing at least four goals to advance in Wednesday’s second leg at Billy Gonsalves Field in Fall River, Mass.

Scrappy play marked the opening minutes of Sunday’s clash, as neither club was shy to impose its will over their adversary. Shoulder charges and brazen tackles gave the referee plenty of work to keep match under control in the early going.

But the guests made their opponent pay for a reckless challenge, which set up a free kick inside their attacking third. Villasenor sent it inside the box, where it bounced around until Hernandez put his foot through it, giving East Providence an early lead in the 19th minute.

Lincoln Club uncovered a golden opportunity to level it a minute later when Anthony Hill went down the left and played it centrally to Joe Benevides, who hit a point blank shot that Underhill stopped yards off his line. The rebound went right back to Benevides, with an open net in front, but a host of East Providence defenders quickly converged before he could get a second look.

The hosts would rue that wasted chance in the 36th minute, when Soares was shown his second caution for a hard challenge. With only ten men, and East Providence relentlessly pursuing another away goal, Lincoln was put in an uncompromising position with halftime approaching.

Their situation went from bad to worse in the 41st minute when Nick Tavares sent it forward to Villasenor, who slotted it through to make it 2-0 going into the half.

Lincoln Club approached the second stanza with renewed purpose, and they used that attitude to force the issue. Benevides claimed two chances before the hour, but Underhill casually denied each shot.

East Providence cashed in on another free kick in the 64th minute when Chris Cunha sent a curling ball far post, where Lewis easily lodged it into the back of the net.

Another foul – this time inside the area – allowed East Providence to put the game out reach. Keeper Sydney Boaventura came off his line to challenge Joaquin DePina on a breakaway. But Boaventura pulled down DePina in the process, and Hernandez buried the subsequent penalty in the 74th minute.

The hosts’ lone bright spot came with full-time approaching. With East Providence’s defense in disarray, Cabral walked into the box and hit it through to deny East Providence of its third straight clean sheet.

East Providence and Lincoln Club will meet again on Wednesday for the second leg. The game will kick off at 7:00pm.