After allowing Middletown South to hang around for the first part of the first half on Thursday, the Rebels boys soccer team set out to not allow the Lions of Middletown North to hang around on Saturday.
Howell scored three goals in the first half, and junior Kevin Campfield added two goals in the second half to aid the Rebels in cruising to a 5-0 win over their A North rivals on the road.
Randy Stout opened the scoring for Howell, ripping a low shot off the left side of the 18-yard box, and three minutes later, Paul MacLean buried a rebound off the foot of Nick Anello, giving the Rebels the two-goal advantage.
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Howell would control the pace throughout the entire game, putting the Lions’ efforts down rather handily.
“I knew what their style of play would be so I knew we would have more possessions,” Howell head coach Rich Yuro said, “Our Achilles heel has been our inability to put the ball in the net, but we’ve been finishing the last couple of days.”
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Campfield set up Chris Hill for Howell’s third goal late in the first half when Hill tapped Campfield’s cross through the legs of North goalie Nick Guarnieri.
Campfield scored both of his second half goals off of beautiful passes from Drew Lyon and Teddy Smith.
Lyon found Campfield breaking down the right wing and the junior buried the shot across the far post.
Smith’s through-ball perfectly found Campfield making a secondary run, and Campfield ripped a shot to the left post.
Jumping out to the early lead, Howell was able to crush Middletown North’s hopes of a comeback.
“Other teams have to pick up their style of tempo [when we score first],” Yuro said, “And that usually gives us better chances offensively to score.”
Brandon Kolchynski anchored a strong Howell defense and keeper Luke Weber made the saves he had to make, although he was rarely challenged.
Sophomore Kevin Kappock continued to impress as he and Lyon controlled the midfield all game long.
Anello had a strong game for Howell as well, creating a number of legitimate scoring chances.
Colton Lambert was a solid asset to the Rebels offensive effort.
The Rebels, now 2-0, will play their home opener on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m against Marlboro.
