Gomez and Paucar Lead Pierson Boys Soccer in Homecoming Win; Mott Records Shutout

In wet and windy conditions, the Pierson/Bridgehampton boys soccer team came up big over the weekend, shutting out North Fork rival Greenport, 2-0, for a homecoming victory on Saturday.

Senior Jose Gomez opened the scoring midway through the first half, making good on a counter-attack effort by his team, and Bridgehampton student Helio Paucar added the insurance goal roughly midway through the second half, corralling a bouncing ball at the top of the box that had been sent in off a cross and putting it home to provide the final margin.

Junior goalie Braeden Mott made 11 saves for the shutout.

Pierson moved to 3-4 on the season after the win.

The victory was a bit of revenge for the Whalers, who had taken a tough 6-0 loss to Greenport on the North Fork earlier in the season. In that game, Pierson had only 12 players available, and was missing key players — Quinn Tanner, Ryder Esposito and Paucar — because of injuries.

Before the win over Greenport, Pierson was edged out in a tight 1-0 home game against another North Fork foe, Southold, on September 20. This time it was Southold earning revenge for a 1-0 loss it had taken to Pierson on its home field earlier this year.

“In general we’re evenly matched overall,” Pierson head coach Luis Aguilar said of the Southold matchup. “It was a pretty even game. They managed the midfield, but we stayed in the game and then unfortunately they had a shot that just slipped through.”

Earlier last week, the Whalers had to take a loss against Mattituck after the teams played only the first half. The weather conditions were unfavorable that day, but the coaches of both squads agreed to tough it out and play. The Tuckers took a 1-0 lead into halftime, at which point the officials decided to call the game because of the weather. According to Section XI rules, if a full first half is played, the game counts and cannot be rescheduled or continued at a later date, so Pierson was forced to settle for the defeat.

The Whalers were scheduled to host Babylon on September 28 at 4:30 p.m. and will host Port Jefferson on September 29 at 4:30 p.m. They will be home again on October 2 to take on Mattituck at 4 p.m.