Following a troubling 2024 season where the Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School varsity soccer team won only three of their 15 games, the Vineyard squad is roaring back into the spotlight this fall, going 3-0 in their first three games of the season, led by a new coaching staff.
Under the guidance of new head coach Rodrigo Honorato, and a fresh coaching staff, the team is showcasing a style of play inspired by the Brazilian soccer philosophy of “jogo bonito,” a Portuguese phrase meaning “beautiful soccer.”
Honorato, a former four-year varsity player at MVRHS, is joined by assistant coach Esteban Aranzabe, who coached the Vineyard team from 2003 to 2019 and won Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) state championships in 2012, 2014, and 2015. Also joining the team as assistant is Edimar Lisboa, and goalkeeper coach Ben Starzell. Honorato said the new staff is hoping to instill a renewed sense of discipline, hard work, and unity within the program.
“I’m trying to teach them this is a team sport and we all need to be on the same page,” said Honorato in an interview with The Martha’s Vineyard Times. “We are very disciplined, we all have to work hard together as a team and support each other because we are a family, and it’s showing. We have had three good results right now, and no matter what comes our way, even if people are low to us, we’re ready.”
“Jogo bonito” references a Brazilian-style of soccer distinguished by creativity and fluid attacking play. The term is sometimes associated with the legendary soccer player Edson Arantes do Nascimento, also known as Pelé, who is considered by many to be the best soccer player of all time.
“Possession, possession, possession,” said Honorato of their strategy. “We control the game.”
The Vineyarders kicked off the season with a 3-1 win over the Monomoy High School Sharks on Sept. 4, followed by a 1-0 shutout win over the Cohasset High School Skippers, who won the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division 4 state championship last season.
In their most recent game, on Tuesday, Sept. 9, the Vineyarders took the Rising Tide Charter Public School to a master class in goal-scoring, with a 7-1 final.
In the game on Tuesday, the scoring was opened just two minutes into the match, when senior captain Yury De Moraes was granted a penalty kick. Freshman Italo Fernandes quickly added another, “showing poise beyond his years,” Honorato said. Miguel Mantesso then tipped a beautiful header past the Rising Tides goalkeeper to extend the lead to three, before De Moraes struck again with a powerful shot from outside the box that found the corner of the netting. Montasso tacked on two more for a hat trick, and to finish the night, winger Kenny Martines found the corner of the netting with a precise finishing shot to seal the Vineyard victory.
“The boys played amazing,” Honorato said.
Honorato said fans should keep their eyes on the Vineyard’s upperclassmen, who after previous unsuccessful seasons are more motivated than ever. But he also pointed to some standout freshman talent new to the team. Among the players to watch: Matheus Lacerda, a senior striker and consistent finisher; Lucas Souza, a senior winger who has been dangerous on the flanks alongside junior winger Kenny Martinez, a winger whose hustle and hard work can’t go unnoticed; Aeneas Forrester, a junior right back with solid defense and an attacking flair; senior captain Yury De Moraes, who has been a rock in the midfield, controlling the tempo of the game; and midfield freshman Moses Thomson, who’s capable of scoring from distance with his screamer of a shot.
The Vineyard boys varsity soccer squad has a gauntlet of games this coming weekend. On Friday, Sept. 12, the boys head off the Island to take on Dennis Yarmouth, a team the Vineyarders have traded with in the past, at 4 pm. On Saturday, Sept. 13, the Vineyarders head back to the Island to face off against the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell at McCarthy Stadium at 12:15 pm, and on Sunday the Vineyarders take on Island rivals the Nantucket Whalers at 11 am, also on the McCarthy stadium pitch.
“I am very proud of this team. They have shown me every day to try my hardest, they motivate me every day, and if we believe in each other and the process, we will get to where we want to get,” said Honorato. “If people come to support us, they won’t be disappointed.”