The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009
The562’s coverage of Lakewood Athletics is sponsored by J.P. Crawford, Class of 2013
It wasn’t pretty on Monday night at Wilson where the Bruins hosted Lakewood in a Moore League boys’ soccer clash that got doused with a surprising rain storm.
However, the home side took a lead in the 30th minute through Lucca Pires and then Wilson goalkeeper Grayson Gilmore made six of his seven saves in the second half to secure the 1-0 victory that handed Lakewood its first loss of the season.
“A win is a win even if it’s an ugly win, and it was ugly,” Wilson co-coach Doug Fatone said. “(Lakewood) is very organized, disciplined, quick and aggressive… they really make it difficult to play against them.”
The Lancers started on the front foot while earning the first four shots of the game before the Bruins put one on frame in the 20th minute. That shot came almost immediately after Wilson changed its 3-5-2 formation to put another defender on the back line.
That adjustment also opened up more channels for Wilson to attack, and a turnover in the 30th minute was redirected up to Pires who beat the Lakewood goalkeeper with a goal into the far side netting.
Lakewood outshot Wilson 11-5 in the game because the visitors worked hard with numbers forward in the second half. They also came from six different players as Daniel Osorio, Jonathan Romero, Diego Perez, Christian Valcic, Michael Gutierrez and Alan Gonzalez all forced Gilmore to make saves. The majority of those chances came from set pieces, but it was Wilson’s organization on defense and Gilmore’s phenomenal positioning in goal to make relatively easy saves.
“That’s just something I’ve been taught since I was young… to be part of the team and not a separate thing,” Grayson said of his readiness. “I’m part of the back line.”
Gilmore is playing his first season with Wilson after becoming a member of the MLS Next Academy with LAFC and the LA Breakers.
“We’re blessed to have Grayson,” Fatone said. “He’s phenomenal. His distribution is just as good as how he collects the ball..”
Senior center back Ian Bond and the rest of the Wilson back line have a lot of faith in Gilmore, and he repays that with trust in their ability to stay in front of the ball as one unit.
“We just have good chemistry after a lot of offseason training,” Gilmore said. “(Bond) is really good at keeping the defense compact. With his communication we’re able to keep our shape so we’re able to build out of tough situations.”
Most of the game was contested in the midfield where the Lancers were able to outwork the Bruins and earn the dangerous second-half set pieces. Fatone and co-coach CJ Brewer want their team to grow from that experience while defending a lead.
“You have to be ready to match the other team’s work rate,” Fatone said. “I think at times we didn’t match their work rate. That’s the lesson that needs to be learned.”
Wilson (6-1-1, 3-0-0) hasn’t given up a goal in league play and will visit Long Beach Poly on Wednesday. Lakewood (5-1-2, 1-1-1) is at a tournament next week to finish out the calendar year.
