Sports
Pearl River Blanks North Rockland, 2-0
The Pirates improved to 3-0 and have outscored the opposition 13-1 so far.
The hard part of the schedule is over for the Pearl River boys’ soccer team. Or maybe it was the easy part.
It’s kind of difficult to say which would scenario would best describe the early part of the Pirates’ season, a three-game stretch which they completed Tuesday afternoon with a thorough, if not methodical, 2-0 victory over visiting North Rockland.
The trio of games with which Pearl River began the year, all victories and all against much larger schools, should mean that once league play begins Thursday at Nyack, the Pirates will be well prepared.
Considering they outscored Clarkstown South, Suffern and the Red Raiders by a 13-1 margin speaks volumes about just how well prepared coach Damon O’Keefe’s team is.
“We love playing the big schools because it does get us ready for league play,” O’Keefe said. “Sometimes it’s very difficult getting over to Westchester to play teams so this gets us ready for the Sectional tournament as well. North Rockland is an exceptional team and it’s great to play against the best competition.”
“We can play like this for 80 minutes against North Rockland and Suffern, it gives us more confidence than anything else. They [the Pirates] look forward to these match-ups.”
The Red Raiders didn’t seem as if they were too anxious for the match, especially when it became apparent early on that Pearl River was taking control. Most of the first half was played in the North Rockland end, with the Pirates maintaining possession and keeping up a sustained attack.
That pressure resulted in a goal with 5:10 remaining in the half as junior Alex Castillo powered down the left side and banged home a shot from just outside the box to give Pearl River the lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Senior Mike Vinci made it 2-0 just four minutes into the second half. The pair have combined to score nine of Pearl River’s 13 goals this season and would have likely had more had it not been for the stellar play of North Rockland goalie Steve Hegner, who had seven saves.
The only drama that remained after the Pirates took the lead was whether they would preserve the shutout. Goalie Justin Cueva faced only three shots. One of them came with just under three minutes remaining in the first half. Another was on a penalty kick at the 28:30 mark of the second half, a shot he handled with aplomb as he dove to his left and smothered the ball.
“These games have kept us together,” senior Jared Schlosser said. “If we stay together, we should beat every team in our league. We also put a bulls-eye on our back, though [with the wins]. We have to work hard now because everyone knows it’s there.”
Neither Schlosser nor fellow senior Jake Tedesco would go so far as to label the Pirates the favorite to win the league title.
“These games gave us confidence but I wouldn’t say we’re a league favorite,” Tedesco said. “I expected how well we worked together and moved the ball but we did better than I anticipated. It gives us great momentum winning these three games.
“But anything can happen. Winning just gives us more confidence.”
Leaving Nyack, Albertus, Tappan Zee and all the rest of the Pirates league foes to wonder whether the hard part of their schedule is over or just beginning.
