Wethersfield Boys Soccer Heads to State Championship
WETHERSFIELD - Brendan Barry finished from the penalty kick dot and sent Wethersfield High School forward on its march to the state championship last Thursday night with a 1-0 home field win over Pomperaug.

       Berlin could not stop the Eagles either. Wethersfield edged them in another 1-0 victory at home that Saturday. The momentum came from a 2-1 Central Connecticut Conference win over rival Glastonbury and a dominant 16-2-2 record that saw Eagles goalkeeper Jimmy Slayton and his back four garner 16 shutouts over the regular and postseason.

       He made a slew of point-blank saves in Wethersfield’s overtime win against CCC semi-final win against South Windsor, and he was called on again in big moments against Pomperaug, who saw a lot of offensive third possession in the first half.

       Slayton started his work about 10 minutes into the game, when Panthers midfielder Austin Wang controlled the ball outside the Eagles penalty area to the left, turned, and found teammate Sherman Mitchell with some space just above the 18. Mitchell got a good shot off, but Slaton had a better save-he dove to his right to tip it out of play behind the goal.

       With 16 minutes left until halftime, a Panthers forward snuck around a defender on the right wing, sending a through ball into the middle. The pass found a striker on the doorstep, but an Eagles center back got their first, breaking up the play as Slayton came up to retrieve the bouncing ball and clear.

       Slayton’s best save of the half came about 8 minutes later, when Mitchell threaded a pass from midfield to the left wing, where James Gibbons ran onto it alone with some space. Slayton charged, sprawled, and made the point-blank save to keep Pomperaug off the board.

       Wethersfield’s best chance of the half came with 6 minutes left, when Jacob Johnson’s low cross from the right found Carter Dizes alone in the box. But he couldn’t get a foot on it and the pass skipped to the opposite sideline.
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