Boston City FC Defeats Seacoast United Mariners 6-1

Boston City ran riot as they dispatched the Seacoast United Mariners by an impressive scoreline of 6-1 at Brother Gilbert Stadium. The win could have been by an even greater margin for the Lions had it not been for some heroics from Seacoast goalkeeper Akheim Forbes, who had a busy night and made several crucial saves.

Seacoast had their backs against the wall from the start, as the Lions scored twice in the opening 20 minutes after dominating possession. The opener came through through Jhonata Batista, who produced a hat trick on the night.

He unleashed a ferocious strike across his body that dipped in over the keeper and a few minutes later, Kevin Herrera tucked one in from close range to pile on to the Mariners’ misery. Forbes produced a world-class save to deny Batista a second just before half-time, as his fingertips deflected the ball just over the bar.

But it would prove to be no more than damage limitation, as the second half saw Boston City explode forward from the get-go. Isaac Nana Addai split the center backs by threading a pass through to Herrera, who netted his second with a cool finish from close range.

The Mariners responded by pulling one back against the run of play through forward Thomas Urquhart in the 66th minute, with what was little more than a consolation goal. Eight minutes later,  Addai played in a beautiful pass behind the Seacoast backline for Batista to pounce and poke behind the goalkeeper, effectively putting the game out of reach for Seacoast.

The final ten minutes saw the Lions continue to press high, as right-back Michael Rincon was rewarded for his hard work with a goal of his own following a marauding run forward in the 85th minute.

Just four minutes later, Batista completed his first Boston City hat-trick after finding himself in acres of space and coolly converting past Forbes.

“I think I’m more calm this year, I was too worried to score goals last season”, Batista said. “This year I just focused on helping the team, and now the goals are coming naturally.”

Batista’s red-hot form has seen him net six goals in three games in all competitions. The Brazilian forward’s impressive run of form has seen him get onto the scoresheet in all but one game that he has appeared in this season.  He has bounced back from suffering a broken leg in last season’s home match against the Mariners.

Addai finished with four assists on the night.

The result means that Boston City is still unbeaten at home in all competitions this season.  A 2-2 stalemate between the Kingston Stockade and Hartford City FC, the conference leaders, means that the Lions have drawn level on points at the top of the table.

Boston City return to action next Sunday, June 4th, at 6:00 pm as they host Hartford City FC in a matchup that could prove to be crucial to deciding the conference champion.