When a team wins its first 12 games, moves up to tenth in the state rankings and gains the top seed in the county tournament, it is no surprise they wind up with a big target on their back. But that reputation suits the Cranford High School Boys’ Soccer team just fine and the Cougars began their quest for their first Union County championship by blanking Union Catholic 3-0 Saturday October 10 at Memorial Field in Cranford.
“It’s good to be recognized. We don’t mind being the top seed. We like the challenge,” said senior midfielder Nick Pace, who had two assists in the victory.
“Getting recognized is what you strive for in a program. Our team knows that everybody will be coming after us but I think they are ready for the challenge,” said Coach Mike Curci.
The Cougars came out a little overanxious against a Viking team that had given the Cougars a major scare before succumbing 2-1 earlier in the season. But leading scorer Pat Hartnett took a long clearing pass from fullback Eric Walano just before midfield and outran the defense before feinting the goalie and hitting an accurately placed right footed shot into the corner.
“I knew it couldn’t be offsides because I took it before midfield. The goalie made it easy for me by committing too early, but I still had to make sure I put it on goal,” said Hartnett.
The 1-0 lead held through the end of the first half but the Cougars could not feel comfortable until Alex Porter headed in Pace’s corner kick with 21:30 left in the contest.
“They were much better than their seeding. They played very well and we had to be on our game to win,” said Senior Goalie Scott Boyer, who earned his ninth shutout and 51st career win,
Boyer initiated the final goal when his long punt was headed by Pace to junior Ray El Khoury who buried a hard right footed shot with 11:30 left.
“This wasn’t one of our better performances. I thought we came out a little bit tight and were trying to make perfect plays. They were packing their defense back, trying to look for a counterattack and it wasn’t until Porter’s goal that we finally started playing our style of soccer,” said Curci.
The victory moved the Cougars into the quarterfinals where they will host defending county champion and eight seed Elizabeth at Memorial Field at 2 pm Saturday October 17. It will be their second game in five days with the Minutemen. The teams also met on Monday October 12 and the 13th game did not prove to be unlucky as the Cougars escaped Elizabeth with a 2-1 victory. After a scoreless first half, senior Josh Barrera scored off a header 15 minutes into the second half to make it 1-0. DeMars made it 2-0 with 17 minutes left on a header off a long throw-in from Lopes. Elizabeth was awarded a penalty kick two minutes later and scored to cut the margin but the Cougars held on for their 13th straight win and second road victory over a Group IV county power. Earlier in the season they had defeated Westfield 1-0.
“It was an intense, very physical game, but we played tough. They're a good team. They use the size of their field well to spread the game. It was a great win for our boys, but of course we have to win the next time we play them, too,” said Curci.
Showing posts with label Boyer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boyer. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
Cranford Boys Soccer 2009 Week 3
On paper it did not appear that the Friday September 25 match between the undefeated Cranford High School soccer team and winless Union Catholic would be very competitive but the cliché that games are not won on paper proved to almost trip up the Cougars. Trailing 1-0 at the half, Cranford rallied with two second half goals, the final coming in the game’s final ten seconds to move to 7-0 with a 2-1 victory at Walnut Avenue Field. Nick Pace, who earlier assisted on a goal by Alex Rocha to tie the game, scored the game-winning goal off a throw-in from Alex Porter with seven seconds left to win the game.
The victory completed another undefeated week for Coach Mike Curci’s team, which earlier featured shutout victories against Rahway, 3-0 on Tuesday Sept. 22 and Roselle Catholic 4-0 on Thursday Sept 24. Curci would not use the third game in four days as an excuse for the Union Catholic (UC) scare.
“I wouldn't say back-to-back was the issue. UC is a better team than their record. They came out fired up and basically every team is after us, so that means we always need to be focused. They spread the field out nicely in the first half, but we also missed a wide open net minutes before they scored. If we put that in, it would have taken them down a notch,” said Curci.
Instead Union Catholic gave the Cougars their first halftime deficit of the year, prompting Curci to make some halftime adjustments, even though he sensed no panic from his confident team.
“The boys were confident they were the better team and would get the job done. No ranting or raving, just confidence. That was good enough for me. I moved (Eric) Walano from stopper to midfield to work with the speedy Pace and they took control of the midfield. I moved Ray El-Khoury back to stopper because his back was sore and he would have less running around. He and (Pat) Kaskiw did a great job and UC really never had a decent scoring chance in the second half,” said Curci.
Rocha broke the ice with a low right-footed shot from eight yards out five minutes into the second half off a feed from Pace, who sent the ball on the ground to the center of the goal mouth.
“Nick played an outstanding game. He was all over the place and made sure he was the right spot with time running out. His hustle allowed that to happen."
With time running down under 20 seconds, Cranford had no time to get its normal long thrower Ryan Lopes into position, so Curci yelled for the closest player, Porter, to take the throw which found Pace alone in front of the goal for a header. Cranford has been deadly off restarts, which include throwins and free kicks.
“Set pieces are a big part of our game. We've scored at least four times off long throws into the box and off of numerous corners this year. We're not a team that is going to come in and blow people away. We first look to play outstanding defense, and then manufacture a few goals. That's what has made us successful." said Curci.
One of the Cougar’s weapons has been Lopes’ long throw ins. “Basically, the long throws become additional corners and anytime you get the ball into the goal mouth, anything can happen. Ryan has been outstanding in that area, even on big fields and we've been making smart runs into the box,” said Curci.
The Cougars are now 3-0 in the newly formed Union County Conference and has outscored its opponents 25-3, with four shutouts and has not given up more than one goal per game. Goalie Scott Boyer now has 44 career wins.
They finished out September with a home game against Roselle on Tuesday, September 29 and christened October with a home game against. Rumson on Thursday, October 1. In between on Wednesday night was the Union County Tournament seeding meeting, where the Cougars were hoping for a number one seed.
The Cougars also had their hands full the day before on Roselle Catholic’s small grass field, but after battling through a scoreless first half they broke through on a goal by George El-Khoury, followed in rapid succession by goals from Ray El-Khoury, Pat Hartnett and Walano. Boyer stopped six shots for his fourth shutout.
Two days earlier the Cougars scored twice in the first nine minutes with Connor DeMars heading in a long throw by Lopes four minutes into the game and leading scorer Pat Hartnett converting a pass from Kaskiw five minutes later. Hartnett finished the scoring in the second half when he took a feed from Walano.
The Brearley boys are also off to a fine start. On Friday they improved to 4-1 with a 2-0 home victory over Roselle Catholic. Rajbir Cheema knocked in a pass from Nicholas Almeida from 22 yards out at the 11-minute mark of the first half and assisted Dom Cullari, who scored in the second half. Goalie Jeff Domingos had five saves for the Bears, who outshot the Lions 15-7.
The victory completed another undefeated week for Coach Mike Curci’s team, which earlier featured shutout victories against Rahway, 3-0 on Tuesday Sept. 22 and Roselle Catholic 4-0 on Thursday Sept 24. Curci would not use the third game in four days as an excuse for the Union Catholic (UC) scare.
“I wouldn't say back-to-back was the issue. UC is a better team than their record. They came out fired up and basically every team is after us, so that means we always need to be focused. They spread the field out nicely in the first half, but we also missed a wide open net minutes before they scored. If we put that in, it would have taken them down a notch,” said Curci.
Instead Union Catholic gave the Cougars their first halftime deficit of the year, prompting Curci to make some halftime adjustments, even though he sensed no panic from his confident team.
“The boys were confident they were the better team and would get the job done. No ranting or raving, just confidence. That was good enough for me. I moved (Eric) Walano from stopper to midfield to work with the speedy Pace and they took control of the midfield. I moved Ray El-Khoury back to stopper because his back was sore and he would have less running around. He and (Pat) Kaskiw did a great job and UC really never had a decent scoring chance in the second half,” said Curci.
Rocha broke the ice with a low right-footed shot from eight yards out five minutes into the second half off a feed from Pace, who sent the ball on the ground to the center of the goal mouth.
“Nick played an outstanding game. He was all over the place and made sure he was the right spot with time running out. His hustle allowed that to happen."
With time running down under 20 seconds, Cranford had no time to get its normal long thrower Ryan Lopes into position, so Curci yelled for the closest player, Porter, to take the throw which found Pace alone in front of the goal for a header. Cranford has been deadly off restarts, which include throwins and free kicks.
“Set pieces are a big part of our game. We've scored at least four times off long throws into the box and off of numerous corners this year. We're not a team that is going to come in and blow people away. We first look to play outstanding defense, and then manufacture a few goals. That's what has made us successful." said Curci.
One of the Cougar’s weapons has been Lopes’ long throw ins. “Basically, the long throws become additional corners and anytime you get the ball into the goal mouth, anything can happen. Ryan has been outstanding in that area, even on big fields and we've been making smart runs into the box,” said Curci.
The Cougars are now 3-0 in the newly formed Union County Conference and has outscored its opponents 25-3, with four shutouts and has not given up more than one goal per game. Goalie Scott Boyer now has 44 career wins.
They finished out September with a home game against Roselle on Tuesday, September 29 and christened October with a home game against. Rumson on Thursday, October 1. In between on Wednesday night was the Union County Tournament seeding meeting, where the Cougars were hoping for a number one seed.
The Cougars also had their hands full the day before on Roselle Catholic’s small grass field, but after battling through a scoreless first half they broke through on a goal by George El-Khoury, followed in rapid succession by goals from Ray El-Khoury, Pat Hartnett and Walano. Boyer stopped six shots for his fourth shutout.
Two days earlier the Cougars scored twice in the first nine minutes with Connor DeMars heading in a long throw by Lopes four minutes into the game and leading scorer Pat Hartnett converting a pass from Kaskiw five minutes later. Hartnett finished the scoring in the second half when he took a feed from Walano.
The Brearley boys are also off to a fine start. On Friday they improved to 4-1 with a 2-0 home victory over Roselle Catholic. Rajbir Cheema knocked in a pass from Nicholas Almeida from 22 yards out at the 11-minute mark of the first half and assisted Dom Cullari, who scored in the second half. Goalie Jeff Domingos had five saves for the Bears, who outshot the Lions 15-7.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Cranford Boys Soccer 2009 Preview
The last Friday in August was a rainy mess which promised to wash out most outdoor activities. In past years it might have canceled soccer practice or moved it inside but in 2009 the Cranford High School Boys team was able to practice on the new turf field at Memorial Field.
“It’s great to be able to practice on rainy days. It helps keep the momentum of our practices going and puts us on level footing with almost all of our opponents,” said Cranford Coach Mike Curci, who has built the Cougars into a consistent powerhouse that is poised to join the county elite.
The Cougars are coming off consecutive 15 win seasons that both resulted in winning the final two Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) titles. This year the Cougars will compete in the newly created Union County Conference with many of their MVC rivals but also get the added competition of Union County Tournament (UCT) finalist Summit. MVC rival Governor Livingston gives the new conference two of the four UCT semi finalists from a year ago. For the second straight year, the Cougars were denied making the UCT semi finals with an agonizingly close loss to the eventual county champion in the second round. In 2007, they lost on penalty kicks at Scotch Plains and last year dropped a 1-0 decision to Elizabeth but Curci is confident that this year’s team has the talent to break through.
Veteran talent abounds in each part of the lineup with nine returning starters abetted by a strong freshman class. “We understand the expectations are high, but this is the position you want your program to be in. Our goals are to win the conference county and states, but we also understand that we cannot over look all the strong competition we'll be facing this year. We're as excited as we've ever been to start a season,” said Curci.
A year ago Curci was looking at a young squad that began slowly, but after a 2-3 start, finished with 13 wins in their final 16 games. The final loss was 1-0 to eventual Group II champion Delran in the sectional semi finals. Goalie Scott Boyer was one of the returnees and helped stabilize the team until they gelled later in the year.
Boyer returns for his third season as starter with 29 career wins and is one of the top net minders in the state as well as one of the team captains. “He has been the backbone in our two championship runs. He has great reaction, cat-like quickness and is a special player,” says Curci.
Joining Boyer as captain is defender Pat Kaskiw, an all county and all conference player last season and a three year letter winner. “Pat is a warrior and his passion for the game is contagious. He did a great job in his first year at sweeper last year in keeping the defense organized. His leadership on and off the field were a big part in helping us win the title again. He has excellent skills and is a tough defender,” said Curci.
Versatile Ryan Lopes returns as a wing defender who also scored eight goals when moved up front. Curci considered Lopes one of the most improved players last year. Playmaker Pat Hartnett, also a star hockey player, also returns to help distribute the ball. A year ago he had six goals and six assists and is also a three year letter winner.
Speedy Nick Pace will switch between midfield and forward, where his aggressiveness will help on both ends of the field. Stopper Connor Demars came into his own last year at stopper and often covers the opponents’ top forward and shuts them down. Midfielder Ray El-Khoury uses skill and toughness as well as tenacity to help on both offense and defense.
The third captain, Eric Walano, also an outstanding swimmer, is a tenacious defender and outstanding with slide tackles “Eric always has the eye of the tiger and a great attitude. He is an outstanding leader on and off the field and will be one of the best defenders in the county this season,” said Curci.
A number of talented players will be battling to augment the veteran talent. Curci has been pleased with the intensity of the practices thus far and is looking forward to see how well his talented squad comes together. Two dates to circle are home battles against former Watchung Conference rivals Westfield on Sept. 17 and Scotch Plains on Oct. 29. With the games on Cranford’s new turf field, it would take much more than rain to cancel them.
“It’s great to be able to practice on rainy days. It helps keep the momentum of our practices going and puts us on level footing with almost all of our opponents,” said Cranford Coach Mike Curci, who has built the Cougars into a consistent powerhouse that is poised to join the county elite.
The Cougars are coming off consecutive 15 win seasons that both resulted in winning the final two Mountain Valley Conference (MVC) titles. This year the Cougars will compete in the newly created Union County Conference with many of their MVC rivals but also get the added competition of Union County Tournament (UCT) finalist Summit. MVC rival Governor Livingston gives the new conference two of the four UCT semi finalists from a year ago. For the second straight year, the Cougars were denied making the UCT semi finals with an agonizingly close loss to the eventual county champion in the second round. In 2007, they lost on penalty kicks at Scotch Plains and last year dropped a 1-0 decision to Elizabeth but Curci is confident that this year’s team has the talent to break through.
Veteran talent abounds in each part of the lineup with nine returning starters abetted by a strong freshman class. “We understand the expectations are high, but this is the position you want your program to be in. Our goals are to win the conference county and states, but we also understand that we cannot over look all the strong competition we'll be facing this year. We're as excited as we've ever been to start a season,” said Curci.
A year ago Curci was looking at a young squad that began slowly, but after a 2-3 start, finished with 13 wins in their final 16 games. The final loss was 1-0 to eventual Group II champion Delran in the sectional semi finals. Goalie Scott Boyer was one of the returnees and helped stabilize the team until they gelled later in the year.
Boyer returns for his third season as starter with 29 career wins and is one of the top net minders in the state as well as one of the team captains. “He has been the backbone in our two championship runs. He has great reaction, cat-like quickness and is a special player,” says Curci.
Joining Boyer as captain is defender Pat Kaskiw, an all county and all conference player last season and a three year letter winner. “Pat is a warrior and his passion for the game is contagious. He did a great job in his first year at sweeper last year in keeping the defense organized. His leadership on and off the field were a big part in helping us win the title again. He has excellent skills and is a tough defender,” said Curci.
Versatile Ryan Lopes returns as a wing defender who also scored eight goals when moved up front. Curci considered Lopes one of the most improved players last year. Playmaker Pat Hartnett, also a star hockey player, also returns to help distribute the ball. A year ago he had six goals and six assists and is also a three year letter winner.
Speedy Nick Pace will switch between midfield and forward, where his aggressiveness will help on both ends of the field. Stopper Connor Demars came into his own last year at stopper and often covers the opponents’ top forward and shuts them down. Midfielder Ray El-Khoury uses skill and toughness as well as tenacity to help on both offense and defense.
The third captain, Eric Walano, also an outstanding swimmer, is a tenacious defender and outstanding with slide tackles “Eric always has the eye of the tiger and a great attitude. He is an outstanding leader on and off the field and will be one of the best defenders in the county this season,” said Curci.
A number of talented players will be battling to augment the veteran talent. Curci has been pleased with the intensity of the practices thus far and is looking forward to see how well his talented squad comes together. Two dates to circle are home battles against former Watchung Conference rivals Westfield on Sept. 17 and Scotch Plains on Oct. 29. With the games on Cranford’s new turf field, it would take much more than rain to cancel them.
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