Nashua South's Michele Esposito (10) pounces on a loose ball that was just out of reach of BG goalie James Algeo during Tuesday night's all-city clash at Stellos Stadium. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Some 12 minutes into their rematch Tuesday at Stellos Stadium of last year’s epic Division I final, the Nashua High School South boys soccer team saw a familiar score: BG 1, South 0.

But unlike last year’s game-ender in double OT, the Panthers had oodles of time to get the equalizer and then some – and their high potent offense did just that in a 3-1 win.

“They came out hot, they were definitely amped, they were playing hard,” South coach Tom Bellen said of the Cards. “The first time they got inside our 25 they scored … But we’re mature enough, we can come back.Down a goal or two, we can come back and play.”

And the Panthers did just that to improve to 2-0. It was the Cards season opener, and they return half of last year’s title-winning starting lineup, so they’ll be in a feeling out mode for a bit.

“Couple mental errors, always difficult when you restart a season, first real match of the year,” Cards coach Tyler Vandeventer said. “Changing five starters of the 10 from last year. Settling into the new system … always going to be difficult.”

Junior Brazilian exchange student Pedro Trindade pounced on a ball that was sitting on the 20-yard line seemingly forever and drove it home past South keeper Antonio Pancinefor that 1-0 BG lead at 12:09.

But Pancine held his own after that. Also, the Panthers have a lot of firepower, and despite the Cards defense led by All-Stater James Guidry helping to keep another All-Stater Damien Rodrigues off the scoreboard (and without a shot), South’s Michele Esposito scored twice. His first was an incredible shot from a tough angle after BG first-half netminder James Algeo dove for a loose ball and missed 20 minutes in.

“Tough shot, tough angle,”Bellen said. “He scored 15 last year, we need him to do it again this year. He got robbed last year, he got (All-State) Honorable Mention, he should’ve been a Second Teamer at least. I think he’s fired up about that.”

Algeo came out to stop another South rush 32 minutes in but Panther Vincent Imbimbo wouldn’t be denied to give the Panthers a 2-1 lead. Imbimbo comes off the bench, had a strong game in the opener vs. Portsmouth this past Saturday, and has opened some eyes.

“He’s giving us a nice little spark up top,” Bellen said. “He wants minutes. And he’s getting them.”

Esposito scored an insurance goal at 67:20 during a flurry in front of BG second half netminder Henry Vaillancourt. The ball appeared to also deflect off a Cards defender.

“Early season,” Bellen said. “Right now we’re trying to figure out the basics of what works for this group. … Tyler does a good job, even when they’re not as strong as they were last year, they’re still going to compete, because they’re all with him.

“They’ve tasted it. They don’t want to win it and be non-existant.”

And they won’t. “We want to be playing our best soccer the end of October,” Vandeventer said. “The seniors last year had spent two or three years together on varsity; these kids have had to watch them. There’s a feeling of ‘We have to do it our way’.

“Getting into what we’re actually after with BG soccer is where we want to go.”