THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, September 18, 2026 Page 9 Malden Soccer rolls in season opener, 4-1 win over Malden Catholic Caballero Valencia (2 goals), Kalefa and Varges Concha score for Tornados By Steve Freker S enior co-captains Juan Caballero Valencia and Abdul Kalefa led the way with three goals between them, and Malden High School displayed some effective passing and defense on Tuesday afternoon as well. It all added up to a 4-1 season-opening victory over visiting nonleaguer Malden Catholic at Pine Barks Park. The win started the season right for Malden (1-0-0), which was right back in action yesterday, September 10, in its Greater Boston League (GBL) opener versus Lynn English. Head Coach Jeremiah Smith’s Golden Tornado squad stays quite busy with a third game, Saturday on the road at Woburn High with a 1:30 p.m. start. Caballero Valencia got Malden off to a fast start when he got pulled down in the penalty area 12 minutes into the first half and was awarded a penalty kick, connecting on the PK for a 1-0 Malden lead. Next up on the scoring list was fellow co-captain Kalefa, who scored his first goal of the year for a 2-0 Malden lead, drilling it right inside the right pole. That’s how it stood at halftime, despite some spirited offense by Malden Catholic at the end of the half and several solid shots on goal, defended by Malden High junior goaltender Wender De Abreu Moura. De Abreu Moura was solid on the day overall with 10 saves, just missing the shutout when Malden Catholic broke through nine minutes into the second half. That goal cut the Malden lead to 2-1, signaling a timeout shortly afterward by Coach Smith. “We had better scoring opportunities in the first half and were a bit sluggish to start the second half. We needed a spark,” Coach Smith said. That spark did appear 15 minutes into the second half when Malden junior Giuseppe Varges Concha scored his first career varsity goal to make it 3-1 Malden, giving the Tornados some breathing room. Two minutes later, Caballero Valencia struck again, scoring his second goal of the game to make it 4-1 Malden. For Caballero Valencia, it was his first-ever two-goal game for the third-year varsity player. Coach Smith called it “a very good start, lots of energy and some timely scoring, for sure. We have a lot of new, first-time varsity players, only a couple of guys with a lot of experience.” “The best part about the game was the way we shared the ball. The passing was great and it was consistent the whole game, something we have really been working on,” Coach Smith said. “Wender played really well in goal and we defended well in front of him.” Malden High School soccer players, from left to right: Juan Caballero Valencia (2), Abdul Kalefa, Giuseppe Varges Concha and goalkeeper Wender De Abreu Moura. (Advocate Photo) From left to right : The sophomores subbing in and contributing to the victory were Eduard Monge Chavez and Richardo Lopez Quintero. (Advocate Photo) The Malden High Boys Soccer Team celebrated a big win over Malden Catholic on Tuesday. (Advocate Photo)
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