Teacher gets best of student in Bedford's win over Hollis/Brookline

HOLLIS – It was not the first time both Stuart Pepper and Rick Carvalho had been on the soccer pitch at Hollis/Brookline High School.

The two spent plenty of afternoons together on that field as members of the H/B boys soccer team, but never in the way that they did Tuesday.

When Pepper and Carvalho talked before and after – and probably during – the game, it was as peers.

Carvalho is in his first season coaching his alma mater, and was a player in 2004, when Pepper was the head coach and the two helped the Cavaliers won a Class I title.

When Bedford High School opened in the fall of 2007, Pepper left H/B to assume the same position there. Tuesday was the first meeting between the two as coaches, and the teacher’s team came away with a hard-fought 3-2 victory.

“That was a blast,” Carvalho said. “I love Mr. Pepper. That was just good fun. If we had come out and lost 5-0, that would not be my response. A 3-2 game, hard fought. Just to hear his silly accent on the sideline here in Hollis brings a lot of joy back to a lot of people.”

It gave Pepper a similar feeling to see a former player of his manning the opposing sideline.

“It means a lot to me to see one of my former players come in here and impose himself like he has,” Pepper said. “You can see the characteristics that he has as a person coming into that team. Good discipline, good standards and doing things well, being organized. He was a leader when he was a player here with me and I could see he’d make a good coach.”

The two have kept in touch over the years, and after Carvalho was named H/B’s coach, the two went to dinner, not just to celebrate, but to discuss soccer.

“We went out to dinner and he wracked my brain about what I’ve done as a coach,” Pepper said. “I told him what I think works well and what doesn’t. I shared my experiences. I’m getting old now and I’ve learned a lot in 10 years here, being in American and in two different high schools. He’s been out of (Division II) for a while now. He didn’t know what to look for.”

With the season underway, the two expect to talk even more.

“Now that the season has started, we’ve been e-mailing back and forth a regular amount,” Carvalho said. “He knows how much I care about this sport and how much I care about this high school. It does mean a lot that he respects me enough as a soccer mind.”

Plenty of chances

Pepper felt that his Bulldogs (4-0 in Division II) didn’t do themselves any favors when it came to putting the game away and it almost cost them.

“We had some good combinations going and I felt that we just didn’t finish the chances that we created to put the game away,” he said. “This other team doesn’t know when they’re beaten and they just kept coming. They were relentless in their commitment and desire to get back in the game. I appreciate already what Ricky is doing for this team. He’s really turned them over. They gave us a scare and it’s really been the first time we’ve been challenged this season. It’s what we needed.”

Bedford had won its first three games of the season by a combined 11-0, and even those wins could have been by a greater margin.

“There were other games we could have won by more,” Pepper said. “It’s good for us to keep our feet on the ground and understand we’re not a finished article.”

No momentum

Bedford’s Casey Schehl gave his team the lead just three minutes into the game, but H/B’s Christian Beiter tied it in the final minute of the first half. The goal was the first allowed by the Bulldogs all season, and should have served as a bit of momentum for the Cavs (3-1), but it didn’t.

“That goal should have boosted us more than slowed us down,” Carvalho said. “It didn’t. That’s been an issue we’ve had in our four games. We’ll address it, and if all goes well, those types of things won’t happen. It should have added momentum for us, but it didn’t.”

The Bulldogs took advantage of that letdown, getting a goal from John Cassidy to go up 2-1. Eric Martel added another goal in the 67^th minute to make it 3-1, putting the Cavs in a tough position.

Cody Modelski scored in the 77^th minute to make it 3-2, but that was all H/B could get.

“Nothing I wouldn’t expect,” Carvalho said. “We did it against Milford with five minutes left. They know they can compete. They know how good they are, they’ve just got to put it together for 80 minutes. We’ve got to take that 10 minutes out in the middle of the game where we let down.”

One was enough

Carvalho knew his defense would have its hands full with Martel.

“He’s not an average player,” Carvalho said. “He’s the best player in the state. If you make a mistake, if you give him an inch, he’ll blow by you.”

It took a while, but Martel finally got on the board with what proved to be the game-winner.

“Martel was brilliant,” Pepper said. “He scored one goal, but seven or eight (chances) he made for himself and he could have scored. He knows that’s part of his game he needs to work on to be a finished article.”

That one goal was just enough for Bedford this time around.

“He did what he had to do,” Carvalho said. “We got lucky enough times that he didn’t finish.”