New England Soccer Today

Boston City’s Unbeaten Run Snapped

Photo credit: Boston City FC

Previously-unbeaten Boston City FC was dethroned as conference kings on Saturday after Kingston Stockade FC handed them a 2-1 loss in front of 992 fans at Dietz Stadium in Kingston, N.Y.

Matt Koziol and Pedro Espindola provided the offense for Kingston Stockage, who also received a quality performance from forward Michael Creswick. Substitute Leonardo Carvalho was the lone Boston City FC player to find the back of the net Saturday.

The Lions entered the game without leading scorer Jhonata Batista, who was sidelined with an ankle injury. Boston City was aided by the returns captain Ronaldo Vieira and Homero Morais, the latter of whom replaced Batista at striker. But the Lions still suffered defeat in a testy battle between arguably the top teams in the Atlantic White Conference.

Kingston Stockade drew first blood minutes before halftime, when Creswick was fouled inside the box to earn the penalty. Midfielder Matt Koziol made the most of the opportunity, converting from the spot to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Things went from bad to worse for Boston City early in the second half as a counter-attack led to a long-range quality strike from Espindola, doubling the Kingston lead in the 61st minute.

With 30 minutes left, Boston City pushed forward, applying pressure to the Stockade side who became difficult to crack.

That pressure finally provided a breakthrough in the 82nd minute when Carvalho took advantage of a loose rebound in the box to narrow the margin. The Lions continued their pressure but were unable to find an equalizer in the closing minutes.

Kingston’s victory puts them atop the conference with a 5-1-1 record, totaling 16 points. Boston City’s first defeat of the NPSL season puts them at 3-1-2 with 11 points, five behind Stockade with a game in hand.

Boston City hopes to make up some ground in the second match of their three-game road trip against Atlantic Blue Conference foe TSF of New Jersey on Wednesday at 8:00pm.

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