Ruden Sports News

Boys Soccer

Greenwich’s Attack Too Much For Staples

David Fierro

09.18.2024

GREENWICH — Scoring 51 seconds into the match on its way to taking a three-goal halftime lead, Greenwich’s boys soccer team seemed on its way to earning an adversity-free win against FCIAC rival Staples.

Then came the start of the second half, which served as a wake-up call for the Cardinals.

The Wreckers tallied two straight goals during the first 3:32, and just like that, the Cardinals seemingly comfortable advantage was sliced to just one goal.

However, Greenwich had the type of response coach Kurt Putnam was hoping for. Regaining the momentum, The Cardinals recorded two consecutive goals during a pivotal three-minute span, then added a tally late to register an impressive 6-3 victory today at Cardinal Stadium.

The win improved Greenwich’s record to 5-0. The Cardinals, who have also defeated Fairfield Ludlowe, St. Joseph, Wilton and Bridgeport Central, have outscored the opposition, 20-4. After the first 40 minutes of action today the Cards were on top of Staples, 3-0.

“It was a really good first half, I thought the offense was working really well,” said Putnam, whose Cardinals advanced to both the FCIAC Tournament and Class LL Tournament semifinals a year ago. “At halftime we had a team talk, let’s not let up, start strong like we finished. Then it seemed like a series of not pressing, not making good tackles, players getting turned too easy and then two times where the goalkeeper got shielded by one of our defenders and the kid bent two around the defender.

“Take nothing away – two good finishes,” Putnam continued. “What I liked from the team was how we came back. It was a real wake-up call, we could have folded. You’re 3-nil up and then you go 3-2, teams can easily implode a little bit and start panicking. But we didn’t, what was nice was that we still tried to play our game and we got the fourth, got the fifth, got the sixth.”

Senior midfielder Matthew Maloney registered one goal and three assists for the Cardinals, who received two goals from senior Guilherme Rizzo.

“Obviously, it was good to get back at them, they beat us last year,” Maloney said. 

The Cardinals wasted little time in setting the tone. Junior Francisco Luzuriaga’s unassisted goal in the first minute gave Greenwich a 1-0 lead.

“That was good, it gave us an energy boost and I think the offense clicked for the rest of the game,” Maloney said. 

Maloney’s header found the foot of senior Santiago Lattuada, who directed a shot past Staples goalie Christian Rinaldi following an injury timeout, putting Greenwich on top, 2-0, in the 17th minute. 

In the 35th minute, Maloney struck, converting a shot from five yards out after receiving a pass from Lattuada, making it 3-0.

“It was a great ball and I just tapped it in, in front of the net,” Maloney said. Staples created a couple of chances early on, but the Cardinals’ backline stood strong, while its athletes up front – senior Micah Kim, Lattuada, Maloney, Luzuriaga and senior Pietro Carvalho — paced the offense.

“We have a lot of speed on the team, so we were able to finish our chances and we didn’t waste much,” Rizzo said.

Staples’ best moments came early in the second half, courtesy of Zachary Gorin, who scored twice. His first goal came 36 seconds into the second half, as he angled a shot from more than 10 yards past Cardinals goalkeeper James Buck inside the right post, making it 3-1. 

Four minutes later Gorin scored another unassisted goal, this time bending a shot that found its way inside the left post, cutting Greenwich’s edge to 3-2.

“It’s pure ability and having faith on the ball, that’s what we want and that’s what we expect,” Staples coach Russell Oost-Lievense said of his squad’s solid second-half start. “We could have 100 percent gotten back into it. It’s just a matter of individual things and needing to be collectively better.”

Obviously, the Wreckers know they must start games quicker and not fall into such challenging deficits.

“I think its been the story of our season so far,” Oost-Lievense said. “It has nothing to do with the lack of ability whatsoever. It’s more of our organization and a couple of breakdowns. That was obviously a good side of course, but we’ve hurt ourselves. It’s not like anyone’s hurt us yet. I hope that we can learn from all this now so that we can fix it.”

Carvalho’s scored off a Maloney pass in the 51st minute, then Rizzo notched his first goal in the 54th minute. Rizzo sealed the scoring off a Maloney assist in the 67th minute, resulting in Greenwich’s sixth goal. Staples’ third goal came in the final second of play from Brendan Allen.

“After the first one they got some energy, but it was just a matter of us staying composed and staying on our game plan and executing,” Maloney noted. 

“We got scored on twice pretty early and they cut it down to one,” Rizzo added. “So, that fourth goal was pretty important, because we had to seal that win and they had a lot of momentum. They scored two really nice goals, there’s not much you can do about those.”

Buck made several saves in goal for Greenwich, which visits Trumbull on Saturday.

“Despite those two goals, the defense played really well,” Putnam said. “I liked the setup. We played offensively much better. We are creating chances and giving teams problems.”


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