AUGUSTA — The Cony boys soccer team kicked the doors off the 2021 season wide open Friday afternoon.
The Rams cruised to a 6-1 victory over Waterville in a season-opening match at Kennebec Savings Bank Field. Midfielder Yousif Ibrahim and striker Gabriel Biasuz each scored two goals.
Kam Douin and Martin Ferrusca also scored for Cony.
Ibrahim, a sophomore, opened the scoring within the first 10 minutes of the contest, when he maneuvered 10 yards in front of the net and fired a shot into the goal for a 1-0 lead.
Ibrahim also made the most of a free kick later in the half, firing his shot above a wall of defenders and into the top lefthand portion of the net for a 2-0 lead.
“It feels pretty good, scoring two goals,” Ibrahim said. “Coming out here, I’m really proud (of the win).”
“Yousif is such a great player,” Cony striker Gabriel Biasuz added. “I’ve known him for about two or three years now. He just eats, sleeps, breathes soccer every single day. I just love the kid to death.”
But it wasn’t just Ibrahim’s shot that impressed. It was his footwork and passing, making a spin-move around a defender, placing near-perfect lead passes to teammates for scoring opportunities. Cutting back on defenders to stop a Waterville charge. Ibrahim had his hand in all aspects of Cony’s strategy Friday.
Cony’s Travis Harding winds up to kick the ball during a boys soccer game against Waterville on Friday in Augusta. Joe Phelan/Kennebec Journal
“Coming in this season, I feel a lot better,” he said. “I’ve been working in the offseason (from) last year. I just want to be a better version of myself. Just coming out here and just showing what I have, it feels amazing.”
“Yousif is a fantastic player,” Cony head coach Marcio Biasuz added. “He can read the whole field. He looks at it, he can read the field. He has excellent foot skills that goes with that. He’s a phenomenal player and I just think he’s going to get better and better throughout the season and later on and (future) seasons, too.”
The Rams continued to apply pressure in the second half, taking 19 shots in the frame.
“It’s just ticky-type of passing,” Gabriel Biasuz said. “Set an advance, short-short-long (passes), just doing our game. We keep it tight, fast (offensively). Keeping it on (the offensive) side, that’s why we taught our defense how to control and stay clamped. It worked on the field.”
“I’m very impressed,” Marcio Biasuz added. “The boys played very hard, they put practice into the game. We practice a lot of combination passes without overlapping, switching fields, transition from the defensive field to the attack field that way.”
Waterville scored its lone goal late in the second half, when Theodore Reuhsen buried a shot into the net with five seconds left in the game.
Aiden Tavares had 15 saves for Waterville.
Dave Dyer – 621-5640
ddyer@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @Dave_Dyer
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