Waterford — Fitch's Thomas Forde turned a high school boys' soccer game Wednesday into a combination of both an inspirational and international event. 

From England, Forde’s grandparents were watching his team play on GameDay. His grandfather, Tommy, learned recently he has tested positive for COVID-19, thus making his grandson’s contribution to victory all the more meaningful. 

Forde’s cross into the box resulted in an own goal midway through the second half, enough for Fitch's 1-0 win over Waterford. 

“Hearing the news was tough,” Forde said. “My grandmother is also recovering from cancer from a couple of years ago. They’re doing all right. They try to watch as many games as they can.”

They probably liked this one. The Falcons (3-5) were down five starters and managed to pitch a shutout, helped along by freshman keeper Nate Virtue. 

“We’ll take them absolutely any way we can get them right now,” Fitch coach Jay Wolfradt said. 

Fitch made the Eastern Connecticut Conference title game last year and lost on penalty kicks to Stonington. The Falcons got some revenge on the Bears earlier this season, but have played their full roster once in eight games thus far. 

“We’ve had some tough luck, but to the guys’ credit they keep chugging away,” Wolfradt said. “We’ll take a 1-0 win with five guys not suited up. That’s a true team win right there.” 

Forde’s cross hit a Waterford defender and skipped past goalie Tim Silva, who otherwise played well in his first varsity start. Both teams were without their starting keepers. 

“(Nate) has done a tremendous job,” Wolfradt said of Virtue. “He’s really been thrown into the fire. He asks a lot of great questions. He’s willing to learn and willing to be taught. I couldn’t ask for anything more from him.” 

Meanwhile, Wolfradt's team has the ECC’s version of a tournament upcoming to salvage something from a bizarre season. 

“Such a weird preseason and weird start to the season,” Wolfradt said. “Not having guys we thought we’d have. We’ve played one game with our full team so far this year. The one positive is we are getting guys game experience who may not have gotten it. They’ll understand the game and understand the speed next year.” 

Forde said: “Not having guys hasn’t been easy. Hopefully, we can turn the page now and move forward.”

m.dimauro@theday.com