Printer Friendly Version - Morgan Boys’ Soccer Going Strong at 6-1; Girls’ Soccer Posts a Pair of Shutouts

Nate Rice and the Morgan boys’ soccer team earned two victories in their three games last week. The Huskies’ biggest win came when they defeated Shoreline Conference rival Old Saybrook by a 1-0 score in a home match on Sept. 27.File photo by Kelley Fryer/Harbor News

The Morgan boys’ soccer team continued its strong start to the 2019 season with a pair of wins last week in a three-game slate. The Huskies’ record moved to 6-1 on the season they look to claim their third Shoreline title in as many years.

Morgan started off the week with a 3-2 road win against Portland on Sept. 23. Portland quickly went up on the Huskies scoring a pair of goals. The first came off of a miscommunication on Morgan’s right side defense and Portland slotted the ball across the goal and into the side netting. The Highlanders’ second goal came off of a free kick that Morgan couldn’t collect, and Portland went up 2-0 off the deflection. The Huskies got back into the game with a goal from senior captain Zach Tuccitto, who scored just a minute after Portland’s second goal. Tuccitto was assisted by Sean Cafferty. Tuccitto scored a second goal to tie the game three minutes prior to the end of the half off another assist by Cafferty. In the second half, the Huskies peppered the Highlanders’ keeper until Alex Gallardo finished a rebound on a back heel into the net to get to the 3-2 final.

Just a day later, Morgan lost a 3-1 contest at Hale-Ray, who had just come off a win versus Old Saybrook. Morgan had a balanced approach and controlled much of the game, but ultimately lost due to a couple of costly mistakes. Morgan outshot the Noises 36-9 with Hale-Ray playing stingy defense. Morgan’s lone goal came from Nate Rice with the assist by Justin Castro.

The Huskies’ final game of the week was a 1-0 home win against rival Old Saybrook. Head Coach Ross Demay described the game as a “chess match” between a couple of teams that know each others’ strategies. Morgan’s keeper Nick Rubino and the defense had some early stops that proved vital to the Huskies’ success. Old Saybrook pushed hard in the first half with nine shots to Morgan’s four. Rubino, Cafferty and Alex Kadloff stopped a handful of dangerous free kicks from Old Saybrook. Morgan stepped up in the second half led Tuccitto who ended with the game’s only goal off of an assist by Sebastian Salgar. Prior to that, Tuccitto was stopped on a penalty kick by Rams’ keeper Matt Rothman.

The Huskies grabbed a pair of shutout victories versus Hale-Ray and Old Saybrook this past week. With the wins, Morgan moved its record to 4-1-1 on the young season.

On Sept. 23, the Huskies hosted Hale-Ray at the Indian River Complex and scored a 4-0 victory against the Noises. Morgan went up 1-0 when Carley Schmidt scored in the eighth minute off and assist from Olivia Swan. Schmidt would score again off a helper from Maura Kelley just four minutes later to make it 2-0. That score would remain until Maddie Stopkoski put one in the net in the 64th minute with an assist from Jessie Flanagan to make it 3-0, and Alyse Olcott as was assisted by Julia Tanner on the final goal of the game in the 77th minute.

Morgan outshot Hale-Ray 25-1, and Natalie Novarro made a save in net. Also playing goal was Emma Lindsay.

Three days later, the Huskies earned a 2-0 road win against Old Saybrook. Morgan snagged its first goal in the seventh minute when Taylor Wyatt scored with some help from Genna Rauccio. The Huskies score their second goal after halftime when Alyssa Smith had an unassisted direct kick into the goal in the 44th minute. In the 57th minute, the game was called due to lightning with Morgan declared the victor. Morgan outshot Old Saybrook 10-2 and Novarro made a pair of saves.

Morgan played a couple of matches last week and came away with a tie and a loss to its credit. With these results, the Huskies record moved to 3-2-1 on the season.

On Sept. 25, Head Coach Emily Lisy’s squad hosted Shoreline Conference rival Westbrook and took a 1-0 loss against the Knights. Though Morgan played some strong defense throughout the game, Westbrook ultimately squeaked by with the 1-0 win.

Three days later, the Huskies went up against Sacred Heart Academy and the game ended in a 1-1 tie after overtime. Morgan got its goal from Emma Farrell with an assist from Delaney Mastriano. In the net was Abigail Gordon, who had 14 saves for the Huskies.

Morgan had a rough go and lost all three of its matches last week. With the defeats, the Huskies record moved to 1-6 on the season.

On Sept. 23, Morgan lost a 3-0 home contest against East Hampton. The Bellringers took the first set by 25-22, and then in the second set, East Hampton got a 25-21 win. In the third set, East Hampton got the 26-24 edge.

Two days later, the Huskies hosted Coginchaug and took a 3-0 (25-16, 26-24, 25-19) defeat.

The Huskies took a tough road loss against SMSA/University/Classical last week. Morgan headed to Coventry and took a 35-0 shutout defeat. Up next for Morgan is a home contest at Peters Complex against Ellington on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 1 p.m.