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10/09/2016 12:00 AMFollowing a benchmark year in 2015, the Morgan boys’ soccer squad experienced some ups and downs throughout the first month of the 2016 season, although the Huskies now look primed for a second-half surge toward the postseason.
Head Coach Ross Demay’s club went 14-1-1 overall and 12-1 in Shoreline Conference on its way to winning the league’s regular season title last fall. Morgan then advanced to the Shoreline final and took a 4-0 loss to Old Lyme. After that, the Huskies were the top seed in the Class S State Tournament and recorded their first win in states since 2001 by earning a 4-2 overtime triumph versus Wamogo. Morgan would lose to eventual Class S champion Somers in the quarterfinals to end the season at 15-3-1.
Thus far this year, Morgan was without last season’s leading goal scorer in junior Juan Avila for all but one game during the first month, but still started off 4-0-1 before losing to Cromwell (2-0) and Haddam-Killingworth (1-0). However, the boys bounced back last week with a 6-0 rout over Portland on Oct. 3 and an impressive 5-0 victory versus Hale-Ray the next day to improve to 6-2-1.
“We played well and finally had a good, positive week where everything worked well and we are getting back to close to healthy. But we still have a ways to go to meet our potential and be completely healthy,” said Coach Demay. “I’m happy we have a big rest now. Hopefully, that will help with getting us back on track and where we need to be.”
Facing Portland, Morgan’s goals came from Avila, sophomores Ford Pender and Jhonnyer Paida, plus juniors Marcio Valdez, Jhan Carlos Bermeo (on a penalty kick), and James Saturno. Assists were delivered by sophomore Carter Skidmore and Calvin Jackson, along with Pender, Bermeo, and Saturno. Junior Anes Gadun made five saves in net as Morgan won the shots-on-goal battle by a huge 30-7 margin.
Against Hale-Ray, Avila and Bermeo each scored twice, plus Valdez added another. Assisting on scores were Pender, sophomore Andrew Passante, Valdez, and Avila. Shots were 14-3 in Morgan’s favor with Gadun making three stops.
“It was good to see that we played well and as we should. I was impressed how well Alex Kadlof stepped up in the absence of one of our best backs in Jack O’Sullivan,” said Demay after the Portland win. “I still hope that we can overcome these illnesses and injuries going into the future.”
In the week before the back-to-back blankings, Morgan came out of the gates strong against Cromwell by not allowing the Panthers to cross the half for the first 30 minutes of the game. It wasn’t until the 33rd minute when Jake Pendl of Cromwell broke through the defense and slotted home a 1-on-1 score. The Panthers scored again three minutes later off of a missed clear that went straight into the box.
Later that week against HK, Morgan gave up the game’s lone goal on a free kick in the 22nd minute.
“We came out strong and dominated [the Cromwell game] in the first 30 minutes. We couldn’t finish, however, and then went into panic mode when we couldn’t score. We are missing our leader up front and it wasn’t more evident than this week,” said Demay “We outplayed [HK], we had two shots cleared off the goal line, and outshot them 17-3. We just couldn’t finish. We need to find out confidence up front without Juan. When that happens, we will be where we need to be.”
Avila, who pulled his hamstring early in the year and had played one complete game leading into the Portland win, is back for his second year as a captain. Avila is coming off of a remarkable 2015 run that saw him notch 30 goals and 10 assists, while being named First Team All-Shoreline, in addition to making the All-State and All-New England squads. Joining him in the captain’s chair is junior netminder and first-year captain Gadun (a 2015 Second Team All-Shoreline honoree), alongside junior center back Tyler Newfield.
“Juan brings a calmness to the front and a leadership as far as scoring goals and getting the team up ready for games,” Coach Demay said. “Anes controls the back and drives everyone in practice. He is highly positive and pushes kids to do their best. Tyler leads the kids through drills.”
Complementing Morgan’s trio of leaders are a pair of juniors in center midfielder Valdez and forward/center midfielder Bermeo. The tandem has done an exceptional job of following up on their Second Team All-Conference campaigns from last fall.
“Marcio leads the middle of the field...He or Jhan Carlos Bermeo--either is a good running mate for Juan up front due to their relationship on the field, knowing where each other are and are going to be,” said Demay. “Jhan is also a good center when we are struggling in the middle. He moves the ball around much better and can keep possession.”
Demay is looking forward to some pivotal Shoreline Conference matchups against the likes of Old Saybrook, Old Lyme, and Cromwell, along with an out-of-league contest against East Lyme on Tuesday, Oct. 18 at home. The Huskies tied Old Lyme 1-1 back on Sept. 12 in a rematch of last year’s conference final. Morgan travels to Old Saybrook on Monday, Oct. 10 and ventures to Cromwell for a rematch on Monday, Oct. 24. Coach Demay concluded by saying that the Huskies need to heal up and put the right pieces in place in order to come out on top in these games and once again contend for the Shoreline Conference crown.
“Our goal this year is to improve upon our season last year with most of our players back,” said Demay. “We need to get healthy, both with sickness and injuries, to put us back in stride for our goals.”
From the Sidelines
This is Ross Demay’s fourth year at the helm of the Huskies’ coach staff.
The assistant coaches for Morgan are Christian DeDominicis, a varsity assistant who’s in his fourth year with the club; Chris Rapuano, the JV coach who’s in his second season; and newcomer Antonyo Serrano, a volunteer.
Earlier in the season, the Huskies opened the year with a 2-1 win over Coginchaug on Sept. 9, blanked North Branford 3-0 on Sept. 15, downed Norwich Free Academy 3-1 on Sept. 20, and then shut out Valley Regional 2-0 on Sept. 22.