After Coaching Change, Cape Tech Boys Soccer Kicks Off Winning Streak

PLEASANT LAKE – After a midseason coaching change, the Cape Cod Tech boys soccer team is riding a streak of victories that’s acted as a bounceback from what was a tough start to the year, match results-wise. 

The Crusaders began 2025 with one draw and three losses, but four straight wins has brought the team above .500. A 3-1 win last Thursday against Old Colony most recently extended that run, with the last time Cape Tech lost (as of Tuesday) being against Old Colony in a previous mid-September meeting.

The turnaround comes with the team playing under a different coach than the one who started in the role at the beginning of the year. Nick Conti, a business teacher at Cape Tech, began the season as the boys soccer head coach — his second year in the role — but is no longer with the team. Kelan Warren is the team’s interim coach, Principal William Terranova said.

It’s unclear what the circumstances of the coaching change were or why a switch was made. Conti is still an employee at the school, according to Terranova. 

Against Old Colony, senior Daniel Colares scored twice for the Crusaders, putting in one early in the first half after breaking free up the right side and shooting it back across the net and adding another in the second with a patient strike up close in the box. Colares also recorded an assist with a cross to junior Rahvarion Smith, who tallied Cape Tech’s third score of the day.

“This was a hard fought win,” Colares said. “It wasn't just me, but it was just a team effort. Everybody played their position, played what they were supposed to do. We've been practicing for this, and we wanted to win.”

After the win, Warren said he started with the team in the second week of September. Cape Tech’s win streak began Sept. 17 when they defeated Bristol Aggie 10-0.

“It's been good, super rewarding,” Warren said. “It's been fun being able to coach these guys. They’ve gotten better and better every day, and the results have shown that.”

Warren is a substitute teacher at Cape Tech, he said, and played soccer since he was a kid (he graduated from Nauset Regional High School in 2021). Filling in to help with the Cape Tech team is the first time he’s coached before. Assistant coach Matt Malone said Warren was “really bringing the team together in a way that’s awesome.”

Warren was good with the kids, Malone said, and had a good head on his shoulders; he’s mature for his age and doesn’t get too up or too down.

“It’s been really fun to watch him come in,” Malone said.

By the results alone, it would seem the team has come together since Warren became involved, though he gave all credit to the players themselves, who he said had “started to come to form” and were “playing as a team” with a “good mentality.”

“Playing more as a team, playing for each other instead of for themselves,” he said. “Keeping the ball on the ground, making the right decisions, playing the simple passes, spacing the field out, just all things that we've done in training, and they've started to play onto the field.”

Colares also said the team’s “mentality changed a lot from the beginning of the season.”

“We've been getting the same mentality, same head, as a team, and that's been helping us to get the wins and get to the position where we're at today,” he said.

The Crusaders sought to extend their win streak to five as they hosted Bristol Aggie, who they first began the run against, on Tuesday. To do that, they’d have to avoid getting complacent or letting their foot off the gas, Warren said.

“Let them do what we've been doing,” he said. “Don't change a thing.”