Boston Victory Fall 1-0 to NELASA Stars

Boston Victory fell to the NELASA All-Stars 1-0 in Easton, Mass. on Saturday.

EASTON, Mass. – Boston Victory showcased a furious display of firepower late, but fell short of answering Almir Barbosa’s game-winner and dropped a 1-0 loss to the New England Luso American Soccer Association (NELASA) All-Stars during a preseason scrimmage on Saturday.

Barbosa, who lodged a 60th minute side-volley into the upper 90, broke a scoreless draw that featured end-to-end action from start to finish at Muscato Stadium.

The hosts employed a 4-5-1 formation and went on the attack early. But their counterparts were ready to threaten the net as well, as Boston keeper Jordan Bar was called upon to snuff out a pair of dangerous NELASA shots.

Halftime arrived with the board unblemished, but the All-Stars showed no signs of relenting. Neither did Boston, for that matter.

But Boston leaned on its back heel at the hour, the All-Stars encamped themselves near Bar’s net before Barbosa’s blast gave his club the lead. While teammates jumped on Barbosa’s back in congratulations, Boston knew it had to find a way to reply in kind.

In the 76th minute, Zico Veiga pushed a point blank shot that banked off the near post, but the rebound squirted away. Minutes later, Marc Djessouho slipped through the All-Stars’ backline and went alone on the keeper, but couldn’t corral the skipping ball before it was tackled away.

In stoppage time, Veiga chased down a long ball into the area and collided with the keeper. But, despite the vehement protests of the Boston bench, the appeal for a penalty fell upon deaf ears, as the hosts came up short of claiming its fourth preseason win.

Boston returns to action for its next preseason scrimmage on Apr. 14 against fellow PDL side the New Jersey Rangers. The game will be played at Muscato Stadium and will kick off at 2pm.