Melrose Boys' Soccer Team Snaps Watertown’s Seven-Game Unbeaten Streak

A pair of brothers from Haiti led Melrose to a 3-0 win over Watertown on Wednesday at Filippello Park. Both brothers — sophomores Frantzdy and Deslyn Pierrot — scored goals and Deslyn assisted on another to hand Watertown its first loss in eight games. 

Watertown, whose record is now 5-6-6 in the Middlesex League, had trouble producing scoring opportunities due to Frantzdy’s physical presence in the midfield.

“They kept up the pressure whenever we had the ball,” said Watertown coach Frank Cacia. “They have some big kids and they play well as a team. They obviously are a good team.”

Frantzdy broke a scoreless tie about 15 minutes into the game when he drove the ball into the lower right side of the net past the dive of sophomore Greg Koutroukas. 

Watertown was still only one big play away from tying the game as it went into halftime down 1-0.

A few minutes into the second half, the keeper from Melrose, senior Zeke Vainer, dove for a loose ball in the box and collided with a Watertown player. The Watertown bench shouted for a penalty and both referees blew their whistles, apparently awarding Watertown a penalty shot and a possible card for Vainer.

After they consulted, however, the refs decided not to award Watertown a penalty shot and instead gave Vainer a free kick. Cacia and the rest of Watertown’s supporters were furious, and one of the refs gave Cacia a yellow card for excessive arguing.

“We had a potential penalty kick [taken away] and things fell apart after that,” Cacia said.

A few minutes after that play, Deslyn dribbled past a couple of Watertown defenders and passed to junior Cameron Evans who was streaking down the left side of the field. Evans didn’t let his teammates down as he padded Melrose’s lead 2-0 with a shot to the right side of the net.

Deslyn put the game out of reach with about 12 minutes remaining when some great passing produced an open shot opportunity. Deslyn launched the ball off the right post and it ricocheted into the net.

Melrose, 8-4-3, likes its chances in the upcoming postseason and coach Dean Serino said the win over Watertown was important for the team’s confidence.

“We lost to Watertown [3-2 last Saturday] and then lost to Stoneham,” Serino said. “We didn’t want to go into the playoffs having lost twice to this team.”

Serino also commented on his team’s performance.

“We moved the ball well around the middle of the field,” he
said. “We wanted to control the ball and limit [Watertown's] scoring opportunities.  Frantz and the other guys are physically gifted and tenacious.”