Down two goals, the Rebels were looking to change the momentum. With a dead ball situation and an opportunity to make something happen, the Rebels were looking for an offensive breakthrough.

Instead, the Cobras denied the opportunity and pushed the ball the other way. The counterattack led to another goal with barely a second remaining in the first half, and Carrabec never looked back in a 4-0 win over the Rebels.

“They’re a strong team,” Telstar coach John Eliot said. “They always have been. I think we held them at the end.”

Dylan Willitte scored two goals while Nicholas Sansone and Tyler Reichert each had a goal and an assist. The Cobras controlled play for most of the game and outshot the Rebels 22-4.

“I give them credit, Telstar held their own,” Carrabec coach Paul Vicniere said. “Defensively, they were pretty solid today. They showed up to play too. We had a lot of opportunities. We just couldn’t capitalize on them. Their goalie kept them in the game.”

Telstar goalkeeper Tanner Wheeler, a junior, made a number of diving saves early. He finished with 10 stops in a great effort for the Rebels (3-4-1)

“This is his first year playing soccer,” said Eliot, whose team started the year 3-2 but have gone 0-2-1, all shutouts, in the past three games. “We made him into a goalie in a matter of a few weeks. He’s been doing very good.”

It was the third straight win for the Cobras (5-1-1). Carrabec had outscored teams 20-1 in the past three games and bounced up to second in Class C South with the victory.

“We’re definitely a middle of the pack team,” said Vicniere, whose team has a win over Mountain Valley and a tie with Hall-Dale. “We’re hoping to pull off those big wins. We’re definitely happy with today. We had a lot of opportunities. The first half we had more shots, and the second half they really tightened into the box.”

Carrabec had a number of great chances from the start. Sansone had a shot hit the right post and took a feed from Dustin Crawford and put it wide. Wheeler made a diving save on one bid to preserve the tie.

The Cobras moved the ball nicely and worked well together setting up a variety of shots from different angles. It proved tough for the Rebels to defend in front of Wheeler.

“We were trying to get it up to the top and slot it in so you can make different runs with different numbers,” Vicniere said. “That way, they weren’t marking just one.”

The Cobras finally broke through with 24:12 left in the first half. A Telstar defender misplayed the ball in front of Wheeler. Willitte was able to steer it home off the defender and Wheeler for the 1-0 lead.

“I don’t know what happened defensively,” Eliot said. “We kind of broke down at times in the first half.”

Then with 18:16 left, Sansone cut in from the right side and scored for the 2-0 lead.

Telstar’s best bid came when Boston Ludden sent the ball ahead for Kellen True. He had some space and a shot but put it over the net.

The Rebels had the dead ball opportunity late in the first half. Instead of getting a quality shot, the Rebels watched Carrabec push it the other way. Sansone had a shot that Wheeler saved, but Willitte put in the rebound as time expired.

Carrabec made it 4-0 3:25 into the second half. Reichert had a header off a Cade Chipman cross.

The Rebels finished strong. Telstar played stronger defense in the second half and did a nice job clogging up the middle. The Rebels limited the number of Cobras shots and played more competitively. Telstar was able to work together more effectively and get a counterattack going as well.

“The problem is that our adjustments came too late,” Eliot said. “Once you get in a hole, it’s hard to get out of it, especially against a team that strong.”

kmills@sunjournal.com