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09/10/2017 12:00 AMThe Westbrook boys’ soccer team faced off against Hale-Ray in its season opener at home on Sept. 9. The Knights notched their first victory of the year by winning a 1-0 decision over the Noises. Last year, Westbrook finished with a record of 5-6-6 and qualified for the Class S State Tournament. This season, Head Coach Gerald Carlone is looking to build on that performance while strengthening the program, and Westbrook is on its way after blanking Hale-Ray to kick off the campaign.
The Knights played a heavy pressure style of offense against Hale-Ray. Westbrook set up camp in the Noises’ zone for most of the match and had several chances to score, according to Coach Carlone.
“We played really well today,” said Carlone. “We played a high press and played in their half of the field for most of the game. That created a lot of scoring opportunities for us.”
With the way his team was attacking, Carlone felt it was only a matter of time before the Knights would put one in the back of the net. Senior Sean Scully was the one who ultimately scored that goal for Westbrook in the 15th minute of the second half, and it held up as the decisive goal of the game.
“We were peppering the goal all day,” Carlone said. “We had a couple of balls go off the crossbar and another one go off the post.”
When Hale-Ray did threaten in the Knights’ zone, senior captain Jack Hayes and the defense were able to stifle those attempts. Hayes is the sole captain for Westbrook this year, and Carlone believes he’s earned his spot in the captain’s chair by virtue of his dedication to the team throughout the past four seasons. Carlone said that Hayes is a workhorse who puts in major minutes on the pitch.
“He’s proven over the past four years to be a leader on the team. He’s a guy that younger guys look up to and respect. He’ll play every minute of every game most likely,” said Carlone. “Having just the one captain, it’s more helpful for the officials. They can explain everything to one person. It’s done that way professionally, so it’s a good example for the kids of what to expect. Some teams have two or three captains, but they also have 40, 50 kids come out for the team.”
Senior goalie Jake Marciniec was another key contributor to Westbrook’s victory. Coach Carlone thinks that Marciniec has already shown improvement in net during the young season.
“Jake Marciniec made some really great saves to keep us in the game. He commanded the box. Anything up in the air, he went up to get it,” said Carlone. “We had a lot of great playing from our younger players. All the boys played with a lot of heart, and that’s why we won.”
The Knights are expecting to see plenty of younger players on the field this season. Coach Carlone’s program features 13 freshmen and, as a result, Westbrook will be fielding a junior varsity team this fall. The team won’t play a full schedule, because the varsity squad may need some of those players, but Carlone is happy that he now has the luxury of a JV team to groom his younger athletes.
“A lot of our freshmen will get varsity time, and we will run a limited JV schedule,” he said. “In years past, we haven’t run any JV program, because the numbers would be stretched too thin. This year, we have 20.”
Carlone believes that his team has room to improve on both sides of the ball this season, but he knows that it’s especially important for Westbrook to net more goals.
“We’ve never been a prolific scoring team, but if we’re going to get results, we’ll have to get the ball in the back of the net more,” said Carlone. “If we are winning this season, we’ll be scoring more and holding off on defense.”
Carlone thinks that Westbrook can return to the postseason this year, although his biggest goal is for the Knights to stay consistent and improve over the course of the campaign.
“We just want to finish the season as well as when we started,” said Carlone. “We’re a pretty young team. It would be nice to make the State Tournament, but we just want to make sure we’re improving as the season goes along. If that works out, then hopefully we’ll make states.”
Regardless of how things ultimately pan out, Carlone is proud of the character that he’s seen from his team through the early goings of the season.
“I think in general we have a hard-working group of boys. We believe in putting the time and effort in and the results will follow,” said Carlone. “We don’t have an attractive style of play, but we work really well together. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and we’re a real team. When we play, the results are better than the sum of our parts.”
In addition to Hayes, Scully, and Marciniec, the athletes on the Westbrook boys’ soccer varsity roster are seniors Binak Cecunjanin, Michael Leary, and Wilson Ramones; juniors Sam Beebe, Lukas Francis, and Joseph Pesantez; sophomore Sidney Levine; and freshmen Bryan Aguilar Guillen, Noslin Antunez, Zachery Boardman, Brenden Engels, Tyler Hoadley, Cooper Whitehouse, and Gareth Whitehouse. Seniors Jullie Dias and Sophia Pellini are volunteering as the team managers.
Head Coach Gerald Carlone is assisted on the varsity squad by Derek Hanssen, who is also head coach of the JV team.