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10/10/2016 12:00 AMThe Guilford boys’ soccer squad has held its own while facing some of the SCC’s top teams during the first half of the 2016 season. Now, the Indians are looking to consistently put together the total package in each game throughout the second half of the campaign.
Head Coach Joe Maher’s Indians returned to the pitch this fall after finishing the 2015 regular season at 11-3-2 for second place in the SCC Hammonasset Division. Following an opening round SCC Tournament loss to Shelton, the Indians won their first two games in the Class L State Tournament by defeating Woodstock Academy and E.O. Smith before dropping a decision against Avon in the quarterfinals to go 13-5-2 overall.
Thus far this fall, the Indians have played to a 2-3-4 mark through eight contests while battling elite clubs like Fairfield Prep, Hand, Cheshire, and Xavier. Coach Maher said that Guilford needs to find its sweet spot on both sides of the field in order to have a solid second half.
“We are just trying to establish consistency on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. We haven’t had that complete game yet,” said Maher. “We are working on cutting down on our mental mistakes each game. When you face quality teams, you aren’t going to have a lot of scoring chances, so we have to convert on the ones we do get.”
In the Indians’ lone game last week, they took a 1-0 defeat to a one-loss Fairfield Prep squad at Rafferty Stadium at Fairfield University on Oct. 6. Guilford had previously lost 3-1 to the Jesuits in its season opener on Sept. 14.
The Indians feature a trio of seniors as their captains this season. Forward Sean Miller is a four-year varsity player, while defender Rowan Page is in his second season starting and defender Ben Cousins is a first-year starter. Coach Maher said that all three athletes are bringing a great mix of mental and physical attributes to the field.
“Sean is our spark plug. He’s one of the fastest guys on the team. He flies up top and creates havoc for the opposing defenses. Rowan’s strengths are his composure and vision. He anticipates where the ball will be played well. He reads the game well,” said Coach Maher. “Ben had some varsity experience as a sophomore and junior filling in. He has a strong foot and takes a majority of our free and goal kicks. Off the field, the three of them are very involved in their fellowship groups and do a variety of different sponsorships for different programs.”
Another athlete who’s moved up to the varsity ranks this year is senior Orlando Diaz, who stepped into the net as Guilford’s starting goalkeeper. Joining Diaz on the squad are senior outside midfielder Dan Ciocca and senior forward Mateo Peralta.
“Orlando has spent three years on varsity, being a backup as a sophomore and junior. Dan is a strong, physical kid and he brings a lot to the team with winning 50-50 balls. He’s a strong individual,” said Maher. “Mateo is one of our most skilled players. His first touch on the ball is excellent and he can deliver the ball anywhere.”
The old Hammonasset Division is gone in the SCC and now the Indians are in the revamped Oronoque Division that also features Cross, East Haven, Cheshire, and Notre Dame-West Haven. With its record of 2-1-1 in the Hammonasset, Guilford is looking to reign atop the division this year. Something else Coach Maher wants to see is for the Indians to continue serving their community in the best way possible.
“It’s a restructured year in the SCC and we are now in the Oronoque Division, so our goals are to win that division and then qualify for SCCs and states,” Maher said. “Our basic goal overall off the field is to raise a lot of money for cancer. We do fundraisers with selling pink shirts for breast cancer, plus for each home game, we have canned food drives for the Guilford Food Bank.”
Following a grueling two-week stretch to open the season, the Indians embarked on a pretty long road trip, but there’s now a little light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the scheduling for Guilford, which is hoping to close in on another postseason berth.
“We just finished a stretch with four away games in a row against four of the stronger teams in Xavier, Cheshire, Hand, and Fairfield Prep. We also had six games in 13 days for the first two weeks of the season,” said Maher. “It’s been a long three [to] four weeks and we’re banged up, but that stretch was the hardest part of our schedule, and we end the regular season with five of our last six games at home.”
• Joe Maher is back for his 24th year as head coach for the Guilford boys’ soccer squad.
• Assisting on the Guilford coaching staff this year are JV coach Curtis Gullette and freshman coach Jeff Sullivan.
• Within the SCC Oronoque Division, Guilford lost to Cross 2-1, defeated East Haven (6-0) and Notre Dame-West Haven (1-0), and tied Cheshire (1-1).