Joaquin Villescas of the Naples Wildcats heads a pass over two Vicenza players during a match Saturday, April 27, 2024 on Caserma Del Din. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)

VICENZA, Italy – After two straight weekends of ties, the Naples boys soccer team found itself in another close contest, nursing a one-goal lead Saturday through a half against Vicenza.

But Naples senior Joaquin Villescas scored in the 48th minute to begin a spree of goals and the Wildcats went on to a 6-1 victory.

Coming off two tightly contested matches – a 1-1 draw with Bahrain and a 2-2 deadlock against American Overseas School of Rome - the Wildcat senior said it felt really good to put the ball in the back of the net.

Villescas says the goal of the season is the get better every day and that “it’s very satisfying to get the goals.”

He tallied another goal in the 58th minute and tied with teammate Josh Banks atop the scoring list with a pair of goals. Alessandro Vavra and Michal Oleska also scored.

Villescas’ goal, along with a couple injuries in the first half, seemed to get the Cougars down.

“After the first half we knew we could come back because it was only one to zero,” Vicenza senior Jalen Robertson said. “I feel like after they got that (second) goal we kind of started to give up and we started to kind of lose faith in ourselves.”

Vicenza managed to avoid the shutout with a goal with less than five minutes left.

Both teams have two weekends left to try to get into top form before the season-ending championships in Germany.

“We really need to work harder and not just work harder but really believe in ourselves,” Robertson said.

Karl Kukk of the Vicenza Cougars attempts to move the ball upfield against the Naples Wildcats during a soccer match Saturday, April 27, 2024 on Caserma Del Din. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)

Joshua Banks of the Naples Wildcats attempts to score a goal against Vicenza’s goalie Sam Grady during a match Saturday, April 27, 2024 on Caserma Del Din. (Brian Erickson/Stars and Stripes)