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10/05/2015 12:00 AMThe Morgan boys’ soccer team defeated Valley Regional 1-0 on Sept. 29 in a physical, defensive game on a soggy night in Clinton. The two evenly matched teams battled and, at the 12-minute mark, freshman Calvin Jackson got the ball and broke into space. On a night when players were hesitant on the field due to the slippery conditions, Jackson made a decisive move and shot from 20 yards out. It was an unexpected play, which caught Valley’s goalie by surprise, and the well-struck ball ripped into the back of the net in the upper-left corner to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish. The officials let the teams play and it led to lots of take-downs and tackles that initiated gasps from the excited crowd. Both teams put pressure on one another in the first half, but neither team could capitalize with the exception of Jackson’s goal.
“I thought we played well for the first 20 minutes,” said Morgan Head Coach Ross Demay, whose team is 7-1 and has qualified for states. “Calvin had a nice connection with his right foot and put it into the upper 90 in the left side to give us the lead. Then we kind of got away from our passing game and started to play kick and run. We have a young team, a lot of underclassmen who are starting and learning.”
In the second half, Morgan stormed out of the gate and had Valley on its heels for the first few minutes, although good defense and a few nice saves kept the score at 1-0. After the initial surge by Morgan, Valley gained control of the match and had momentum for most of the final period. Morgan goalie Anes Gadun (8 saves) had an impressive game, especially under the slick conditions, and wasn’t going to let Valley score. As the Warriors made push after push, Gadun thwarted each attempt, frustrating the opposition and pumping his fist after a diving save to maintain the one-goal advantage.
“I think our guys got a little tired. [Valley] outplayed us in the second half, but Anes stepped up and saved us twice in two big scenarios,” Coach Demay said. “We let them back into it in the second half. We didn’t play as well as we should have, but it was good to get the win.”
Next on Oct. 1, Morgan headed to Cromwell for another Shoreline Conference battle and came away with a 3-0 win. It was the fifth-straight victory for the Huskies and the fifth shutout in row for goalie Gadun, who had eight saves on the day. The Huskies came out sluggish against the Panthers in the first half. However, in the second period, Morgan was determined to get back to its passing game and share the ball and that was exactly what the Huskies did. Morgan was aggressive and played with energy, using crisp passes to move down the field and assist on all of their goals to go along with 14 shots at the Cromwell keeper. Captain Anthony Choronzy scored on a pretty assist by Matt Koizy, sophomore captain Juan Avila had a goal off a pass by Jhan Carlos Bermeo, and then Avila returned the favor by assisting on Bermeo’s goal later in the match.
“We came out flat. Cromwell was playing much better than us in the first half. We gave them too much space. They just didn’t capitalize on their opportunities,” said Coach Demay, whose squad is 5-1 in the Shoreline Conference. “In the second half, we stepped up. Our defense was led by Devin Bornstein, who had a good game. Choronzy also stepped up in the second half, scoring the first goal. Once we scored, we settled down a bit, and Cromwell collapsed after we got the second goal. We still have a lot of room for improvement as we go forward with the season. We still have yet to play over 40 minutes of well-played soccer. It’s good to know we’ve now qualified for states, though.”
• Coach Ross Demay is in his third year at the helm of the Morgan boys’ soccer team. Assistant coach Christian DeDominicis is also in his third year and Chris Rapuano is a first-year assistant.
• The Huskies are led by senior captain Anthony Choronzy and sophomore captain Juan Avila.
• Morgan has outscored its opponents 26-0 through its five-game winning streak.