Cape Tech Boys Soccer Rolling With A Need For Speed

PLEASANT LAKE – Speed has been key for a Cape Cod Tech boys soccer team rapidly approaching what could be their best ever regular season finish within Division 5.

Under first-year head coach Brandon Chinchilla, the Crusaders (7-2-1) are a team of breakaways, runs and through balls. 

The tactics have worked. Cape Tech is scoring more than two goals each for every score they’ve allowed (a season-long goal differential of 33-15, as of The Chronicle’s Tuesday deadline). 

As a result, they are squarely ranked within the top half of their divisional field and are looking at their highest ranking ever within the MIAA’s current tournament alignment.

“Speed is big for us,” senior Rahvarion Smith said. “We have a team of quick players, so our ability to get out to get an attack full speed before the team can get on their toes is what separates us from other teams.”

Anchoring the playstyle is the group’s trio of captains: Smith and seniors Jonathan and Benjamin Da Silva. During a 2-1 win against Old Colony last Thursday, their synchronicity — enhanced by their pace — generated chance after chance in open play. 

Smith finished with two goals to add to a season total of more than a dozen.

“We're very collaborative and we’re really compatible whenever we're on the field together, all in our little triangle,” Smith said.

Their familiarity with each other and the success that’s led to this year is proof of the importance of playing soccer together for a long time. (At schools like Cape Tech, where students from several different towns — who grew up playing soccer separately in those respective places — suddenly coalesce into one team, players and coaches can often feel like they’re playing catch-up with time together on the field in that regard, compared to other schools.)

Smith and Jonathan Da Silva have played nearby one another for the Crusaders since freshman year. At first, they were next to each other. Then Smith moved up to striker as a sophomore. Still, Jonathan always remained his “right-hand man,” Smith said.

“He's always my guy right behind me,” Smith said. “Whenever I'm in trouble, give the ball to him. I know he's going to do something with it. I'm not worried about his skill, because I know that he's either going to take that shot, or he's going to find someone, switch the ball, pass it, find me back again as I make another run.”

Benjamin Da Silva, meanwhile, runs the left wing, representing a passing or attacking option for the Crusaders’ triple attack.

“I think that, especially because we've been playing together for such a long time and we're playing so close, and we're really good friends outside of soccer, it just makes us even better on the field because we know exactly how each other plays,” Smith said.

While Smith and the Da Silvas knew each other well, the team had a critical newcomer this season in Chinchilla, a former Cape Tech graduate (2012) and soccer player for the Crusaders. 

Chinchilla entered as the manager for 2026 following the interim tenure last year of Kelan Warren, who arrived midseason and helped prompt a turnaround that shot the team all the way into a home tournament match. Chinchilla is a native of Costa Rica, having moved to Chatham as a youngster. 

According to Smith, Chinchilla’s preference coming in was in fact a slower tempo with possession and passing play to find the open man and send the ball through. The players tried to adjust, but at the end of the day, they’re a “go-at-you team,” Smith said.

Even so, Chinchilla, for his part, recognized the pivotal role of speed in the Crusaders’ game. He said he wanted the team to be more aggressive both in possession and on the defensive side — to not be OK with just being OK.

“In our team, the way we operate, we try to use our wings, our speed, and try to go through them, through our breakaways the most we can,” Chinchilla said. “That's our style of play — breakaway, play defense, hold them down and then try to break away as fast as we can, catch them on their backs.”

At No. 12 seed in Division 5 currently, the Crusaders are looking at what would be their highest finish ever since state tournament realignment in 2021 (last year’s No. 16 finish was the previous program high; before that, a No. 28 seed the year prior).

That Cape Tech just keeps winning has even made it hard, from Chinchilla’s perspective, to impart wisdom post-game. After the narrow win against Old Colony last week, the messaging was that they could have played better. But that’s exactly the high bar the unit has set for themselves.

“We’ve got to be moving forward, be mentally stronger to be able to finish a game, not just let them score and then sit back,” Chinchilla said. “We’ve got to continue attacking and being mentally strong on our team.”

In that respect, Cape Tech’s physical aim on the field corresponds with their strategic mental approach overall: No brakes needed. They’re not a group that’s wont to ease up any time soon.

“We can't be a team that slows down,” Smith said. “We’ve got to be a team that keeps on going, going, going, going, going. Keep on going.”