Coutinho’s brace, assist leads Greenville to dominant win over Central Valley
Greenville, SC (April 19, 2023) – A resilient Greenville Triumph Soccer Club attacked early and often, convincingly beating Central Valley Fuego 3-0 Wednesday night to earn the club’s first victory of the season. Lucas Coutinho collected two goals and an assist, Noah Pilato added a goal in a second straight match, and Jared Mazzola earned his first shutout in the club’s first victory at its new home in Furman’s Paladin Stadium.
Greenville started Wednesday’s match on the front foot, echoing the chants of its supporters with repeated shots at Central Valley Fuego in the opening minutes. The home side showered Fuego’s back line with fierce determination and quickly began controlling possession. Just eleven minutes into the match, Lucas Coutinho grabbed the lead for Greenville with his first goal of the season on a deflection that dribbled past the keeper. Shortly after, Greenville midfielder, Allen Gavilanes attempted a dangerous free kick from outside the box, overshooting the goal by mere inches. Greenville continued to heighten the pressure on Fuego but stayed careful to protect the ball and avoid cohesive counterattacks. Near the conclusion of the first half, Noah Pilato opened up toward the goal and accurately slotted the ball into the net to double the Triumph lead just before the halftime whistle.
Out of the locker room, forty-five minutes stood between Greenville and its first victory of the season. The sides traded possession in the middle third until Coutinho dribbled through three defenders and delivered his second goal of the night, securing a brace for the attacking midfielder. Greenville pressed on, dominant with possession. Late in the match, a rogue shot from Fuego right back, Zahir Vasquez threatened the Greenville net, only to be turned away with a stellar save from Triumph goalkeeper, Jared Mazzola. Mazzola’s swat preserved his first-ever shutout and the team’s first scoreless effort of the season.
“Really good team performance for sure,” said Head Coach John Harkes. “We added a lot more discipline to our tactical shape: how we are without the ball, and you know when the guys start doing that work and rolling up their sleeves a little bit, especially in the wide areas of the field for us, that’s when we can close down teams.”
The Greenville Triumph Soccer Club will look to capitalize on the momentum with a quick turnaround, returning to the road this Saturday to face expansion side, Lexington SC at 7:00 PM. GTSC returns to Paladin Stadium to face off against NCFC at home on April 29th. Tickets are on sale now.
Lucas Coutinho, midfielder, on his brace leading the first 2023 win: “The last couple of years have been very difficult, and I was waiting for a performance like tonight. I’m really happy to help the team get us out of this hole we kind of dug ourselves in the beginning of the season but you know we still have plenty of games left. We believe in each other, we believe in this group, we work hard always. We knew the first one was going to come and tonight I’m really proud of the guys for the energy that we brought. That’s the real Triumph that we’ve known for the last four seasons.”
Jared Mazzola, goalkeeper, on his first-ever shutout: “It was cultivation of a lot of training, the cultivation of me trusting my teammates and knowing that they were going to do their jobs. I knew I was going to have to make a save (late in the second half) because that’s just the way it goes. I was very fortunate to have kept it out of the net – a lot of times goalies don’t in those situations, so I’m very happy to keep that clean sheet.”
