'Resilience': Rockland High boys soccer playing comeback role in return to playoff status

ROCKLAND – In the realm of high school athletics, the experiences a team encounters often shape its identity.

Standing on the turf inside the newly-renovated stadium next-door to Rockland High, boys soccer coach Dan Kimball noted the "resilience" of his group.

“We’ve been the comeback kids," Kimball said with a smile.

Five of the Bulldogs' nine wins this season from come-from-behind fashion. Though Monday's 3-2 win over East Bridgewater doesn't fall in that category, given it came without the team's top two goal-scorers – senior Joao Faria (family vacation) and sophomore Kaiky Araujo (illness) – in attendance, it still fits the bill of resilience.

The win pegs Rockland (9-4) for the state tournament for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons.

“They have that never-quit attitude," Kimball said of his team. "They just keep pressing forward. ... We’ve been a team that has come from behind all season. To get a lead at the jump (against EB) was certainly critical. (Our players) knew we were coming into today missing our top two goal-scorers.”

Faria (13 goals) and Araujo (8 goals) have combined to make up 21 of the Bulldogs' 35 goals scored on the season entering play against EB.

In the tandem's absence, it was freshman Daniel DaSilva who drilled two penalty-kick goals, including the go-ahead tally inside the final five minutes, to bump his season total up to five. “Those two were the biggest, for sure," Kimball said.

“That wasn’t an easy undertaking," Kimball added of DaSilva's performance. "For a freshman to step up in a very critical point in the game to knock both of those down, it says a lot about his sense and understanding of the moment.”

Coming into Monday, Rockland, which began the season on a seven-game winning streak, was in a rut of suffering four losses in its last five games. Four of those five games came on the road, with shortcomings against Abington (3-2 loss), Division 1 foe New Bedford (4-1 loss), Norwell (2-0 loss) and Cohasset (4-1 loss). The Bulldogs are No. 14 in the MIAA's latest Division 4 power rankings.

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Rockland finished last season with a 13-3-3 record, as the team was upset by No. 20 Assabet Valley, 4-2, in the Sweet 16.

“We had a lot of guys back. We had a young team, we graduated five seniors," Kimball said of last year's team. "We’re still relatively young (this year). We only have five seniors, two of which start. We have a really strong junior class.”

“It’s huge," Kimball said of the impact of the underclassmen. "To be able to rely on your youth and having them produce, it’s putting us in the position we’re in.”

One noteworthy name from that junior class is Michael Harlow, the team's new starting goalkeeper. He takes over for Kellen Porter, who is now a freshman on the men's squad at UMass-Dartmouth.

“Mikey is stepping into this role and making some huge saves at the end of the game," Kimball said. "He’s been like that all year. He’s been absolutely fantastic.”

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As for Faria, who became the program's all-time leading scorer in an All-Scholastic season last fall, the stiker returned to Rockland for his senior season after debating whether or not to forgo it in favor of suiting up for an academy team. He scored 33 goals and was named the South Shore League's Tobin Division Player of the Year as a junior.

“He’s taken on more of a mentorship role this year," Kimball said. "He’s getting a lot of attention defensively from a lot of our opponents, but he’s looking to distribute a little bit more this year.”

When Faria returns, the Bulldogs will enter the regular season's stretch drive with vital matchups against Norwell, Sandwich and New Bedford still looming ahead.

Last year, the team went through an uncharacteristic 0-2-2 midseason slide but finished strong, going unbeaten in the five games leading into tournament play with four shutouts. Could a similar ramp-up emerge in the coming weeks?

“We’ll see," Kimball said with a chuckle. "We’re taking it one game at a time. We have a lot of really talented teams coming up. Our league is tough. It’s a grind day in and day out.”

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Rockland High boys soccer embracing and overcoming adversity