Boys' Fourths Soccer: Archives

On a cloudy and crisp fall afternoon, Taft 4ths soccer team earned another convincing victory, this time over the Hebrew High School of New England.  HHSNE had its fair share of speedy players in the midfield but the Rhino offense, led by Till Scholich and Chris Capece, would win the day.  Capece opened the scoring in the 4th minute when his corner kick was mishandeled by the HHNE keeper and found its way into the goal.  In the 11th minute, Ryan Golding put great shot over the keeper from just outside the six, only to have it riccochet out from the under side of the crossbar.  Griffin Connor would make up for that missed opportunity seconds later when he buried a hard shot from the right corner of the 18 - a shot that is becoming his signature move.  In the 20th minute, Scholich uncorked a strong shot from the left corner of the 18 that the HHNE keeper could not handle, landing in the back of the net and sending the Rhinos to the half up 3-0. 

In the second half, HHNE came out refreshed and determined and pressured the Big Red defense early.  They wore the backs down and sent a through ball that their striker would put through the hands of Taft goalie Nick Salnikoff in the 38th minute.  The Rhinos fought back and controlled play for the rest of the half creating many opportunities from the corners but were unable to finish.  In the 68th minute, however,  Liam Carty sent a throw in down the line to Capece.  Capece displayed great patience under pressure to beat his defender and put a perfect cross into the box.  The HHNE keeper was able to deflect the ball to the opposite side, only to be met by Till Scholich who buried a header into the opposite corner of the net.  Phil Brauer led the Rhino defense with solid play in the midfield all afternoon.  The Rhinos look to build on their success on Saturday vs. Millbrook, Taft's parents' day. 

Building on their offensive outpouring at Avon Old Farms, The Rhinos had their best played and most prolific outing to date, beating the Pride of Trinity Pawling 7-1 on a beautiful, sunny day in New York.  In what would become a physical match, Chris Capece led Taft scorers with two goals.  Each side tested the other early on with Taft working the ball deep into the TP corners.  While they able to send crosses into play, The Big Red were unable to connect until Capece put one in the back of the net in the 20th minute.  Pat Cassiday added a goal on a solo effort 9 minutes later.  Having worn down the Pride defense, Capece scored and exemplary goal from the left side - shoooting low and away to put the Rhinos up 3-0 in the 31st minute.  Parker Fiske would cap the scoring in the first half by burying a ball into the back of the net after disrupting the TP clearing attempt, making it 4-0. 

The Rhinos worked hard to find their rhythm in the first half and came out in the second to play some of their best team soccer of the year.  Jake Lord was outstanding at right back, thwarting every TP attempt to gain ground in the Taft zone with sure outlet passes up the wing.  Chris Hylwa, Philip Brauer, Liam Carty and Rob Galbraith also had solid games on the defensive half of the field for the Rhinos. 

Gabe Menneson opened the scoring in the second half in the 50th minute with a gorgeous goal coming from one of the Rhinos' finest offensive moments of the year.  Striker Andrew Gaus sent a pass to midfielder Josh Rinaldi who had his back to the goal at the top of the 18.  Displaying perfect timing and touch, Rinaldi flicked the ball on to a streaking Menneson who made no mistake putting the ball well out of the keeper's reach in the top left corner of the goal.  Taft continued to posses the ball and send probing crosses through the box but were exposed as being susceptible to the counter attack when a TP striker converted a through ball in the 63rd minute to make the score 5-1.  Determined to bounce right back, Gavin Meaney put his own rebound past the Pride keeper in the 70th minute.  Griffin Conner ended the day scoring a beautiful header from the left side off a corner kick in the 76th minute. 

The Rhinos will return to practice on Monday to prepare for their game Wednesday vs. the Hebrew High School of New England.

Taft's 4ths soccer team travelled to Avon Old Farms to take on the Winged Beavers for their first away game.  The game began with a light rain falling and the showers would continue on and off throughout the afternoon.  The Rhinos, held to two goals in their first games, would have their best offensive outing yet to earn a 6 - 0 victory.  Avon tested the Big Red defense early but could not get any shots past goalie Nick Salnikoff.  Salnikoff had a strong performance and should be commended for his first shutout of the season.  Chris Hylwa, Michael Mulroy, Robby Galbreath and Richard Gilland all had strong games at defense.  

On the other end of the field, striker Gavin Meaney would open the scoring in the 27th minute with a beautiful header off of a cross from the left corner by Andrew Gaus.  Gaus would bury a shot in the goal only one minute later off of a similar cross, this time by midfielder Till Scholich.  Scholich received a through ball in the 31st minute, made it through the Avon defense and scored on a shot that hit the underside of the crossbar before going into the goal to make the score 3-0 at the half.  Ryan Golding contributed to goals in the second half, both from close range, as the Rhinos wore down the Avon defense.  Pat Cassidy, having failed to connect on a bicycle attempt earlier, scored on a brilliant solo effort in the waning minutes of the game.  The Rhinos will get back to work on Monday as they prepare for their game at Suffield on Wednesday.  

To open their season, Taft's 4ths soccer team welcomed Brunswick on a rainy afternoon.  The teams tested each other early on, each squad attempting to find their rhythm after a delayed start.  The Rhinos began to settle in on the offensive side of the field with Griffin Conner working the ball down the line to Chris Capece, who was able to place several crosses into the box.  Taft's team defense was lulled into complacency after so much time on offense and Brunswick capitalized on a brisk counter attack for their only goal of the game.  Taft would get scoring from Griffen Conner, who scored on a hard shot from just inside the 18 yard box.  Pat Cassidy put the ball in the net with a fantastic header off of a perfect cross from Till Scholich, only to have it waved off by the referee who determined that the ball was over the end line before the cross was sent.  Cassidy was determined to make his mark and scored the game winner moments later on a fiesty solo effort after picking off a Brunswick throw in to seal the 2-1 victory for the Rhinos.  

Nick Salnikoff had a great game in goal and was well supported by defenders Will Galant, Richard Gilland and Liam Carty.  Congratulations to the Big Red on a great season opening victory!

    Although we were originally scheduled to play on Wednesday, our game was moved to this afternoon.  Berkshire arrived about 5 minutes before game time, and the referee never showed.  Once the game began, Berkshire applied pressure but were thwarted by goalie Quang Bui.  We got rolling and put pressure on them only to discover their fullbacks were very fast and skilled.  At the 25 minute mark, a scramble in front of our goal resulted in Berkshire's first score.  We bounced back and mounted an attack.  With just 30 seconds to go in the half, Josh Grossman sent a long ball to Jack Queally who beat the defense and sent one into the net.  The second half saw both teams apply pressure, but it was Berkshire who broke through with less than 10 minutes to go to take home the victory.

    Although we had been looking forward to our rematch with Avon, the game did not go as we hoped.  Avon again charged out from the opening whistle and scored 2 goals in the first 10 minutes.  While we regained our composure somewhat, before the half ended, Avon scored again.
    Down 3-0 at the half, we looked to regroup, but Avon continued to play aggressive, hustling soccer in the second half.  They went up 4-0, but that seemed to awaken us from our stupor.  Dan Sheehan's excellent corner kick found Cam Ortega who rolled one past the goalie to put us on the board.  Avon countered soon thereafter, but we rused to give up.  With one minute to go, Emmanuel Menesson found Pat Cassidy who beat several defenders before ripping it past the goalie.
    Despite giving up 5 goals, Quang Bui had an excellent game in the nets for us.

    After a very long bus ride and a very short warm up, we weren't sure what to expect.  We knew Millbrook was strong, but at the 6 minute mark, Pat Cassidy took the ball down the left side and crossed it where Dan Sheehan perfectly sent it into the net.  The rest of the first half teetered back and forth until the final 30 seconds.  Two unlucky bounces, one against a fullback and one against our goalie, Quang Bui, resulted in a Millbrook score.
    Energized by their goal, Millbrook came out ferociously in the second half.  They had us pinned in our half of the field for much of the remainder of the game.  At one point, they got the ball past our goalie, but Reed McDonnell was there to clear the ball as it lay right on the goal line.  Millbrook played a very physical game, and they were encouraged to play ever more physically when the ref stopped blowing the whistle and making calls.  Shockingly, one of the few times he did blow the whistle was to award a penalty kick to Millbrook.  They converted and held onto the lead for the rest of the game.
    Despite the loss, I am very proud of our players. In a situation where tempers could easily have flared and the situation gotten out of hand, our team remained composed, played soccer as it is meant to be played, and never retaliated.  The fourths team behaved like gentlemen and held themselves to the highest standards.  Their actions would have made the whole school proud to call them a Taft team.

    On a perfect Parents' Day afternoon, the fourths easily handled a squad from Trinity-Pawling.  We changed up our forward lines, and the combination of Pat Cassidy, Jordan Maia, and Dan Sheehan with halfback support from Ben Sasani, Cam Ortega, and Josh Rinaldi produced three of our four goals.
    Ten minutes into the game, Dan Sheehan ripped a Pat Cassidy cross past the goalie.  Ten minutes later, Josh Rinaldi took a pass from Ben Sasani and beat the keeper.  The half ended with us holding a 2-0 lead.  Now it was time for the other offensive unit (Rob Kiska, Chris Capece, and Jack Queally with midfielders Josh Grossman, Wes Jamieson, and Emmanuel Mennesson) to show off.  Needing only one minute in the second half, fullback Sam Underhill, in his first game of the season, found an open Rob Kiska in front of the goal.  After beating a couple of defenders, Rob fired a bullet into the back of the net.  Fifteen minutes later, Dan Sheehan intercepted a goal kick, flew past two fullbacks and then ripped a shot past the goalie for his second tally of the game.
    As always, the steady defensive work of fullbacks David Sohn, Reed McDonnell, Chris Hylwa, and Jake Lord kept T-P at bay.  Goalie Quang Bui prevented any actual shots on net as he raced out to snatch the ball before the Tiger forwards could unload a shot.  All around, it was a solid effort and a strong game from start to finish for the entire squad.

    If we had started to play our brand of soccer right from the opening whistle, this might have been a very different game.  However, we came out flat and let Avon score just 2 minutes into the game.  They struck again at the 12 and 20 minute marks.  Down 3-0, we finally awoke and began to hustle.  We dominate the second 20 minutes of the half but could not score.  At halftime, we knew we would need to continue our pressure and that good things could happen.  Rob Kiska put us on the board after taking a pass from Pat Cassidy, beating a couple of defenders, and then ripping it past the goalie 14 minutes into the second half.  Eleven minute later, Chris Capece converted a cross from Jordan Maia to make it a 1-goal game.  We kept the pressure on, but then lost focus for just a minute.  Avon capitalized and scored with 2 minutes to go.  Rather than fold, we charged back and Jack Queally headed a Josh Grossman ball past the goalie to bring us to within one.  Sadly, the remaining 60 seconds was not enough time for us to gain the equalizer.
    Avon crushed us in the first 20 minutes of the game, but we then dominated for the last 60.  Quang Bui was excellent in goal and our defenders--David Sohn, Reed McDonnell, Chris Hylwa, Jake Lord, and making his debut, Emmanuel Mennesson--were often put to the test by the very fast and skilled Avon offense.  Key to our comeback was the hustle and ball control of players like Dan Sheehan, Josh Rinaldi, Ben Sasani, Lee Pryor, and Cam Ortega.  The MVP for the game was tri-captain Wes Jamieson who had the game of his life while also risking his life in the face of many Avon kicks, tackles, and trips.

    On a soggy field and under a steady light rain, the 4ths squad registered their second win.  Rob Kiska needed just 2 minutes to put us on the board as he tapped home a ball from Josh Grossman.  Rob scored again at the 8 minute after taking a feed from Pat Cassidy.  After Josh Grossman struck the crossbar, Lee Pryor drove home the rebound to bring us to 3-0 at the 21st minute.  With less than 5 minutes in the half, Dan Sheehan drove down the right side and made a perfect cross.  Ben Sasani was in excellent position, dead center in front of the goal, and drilled it into the back of the net.  A minute later, Westminster scored their lone goal.
    Hustle was the key to our success as Westminster was a bigger, stronger team.  Forwards Jordan Maia, Chris Capece, and Jack Queally ignited many fast breaks.  Midfielders Cam Ortega, Josh Rinaldi, and Wes Jamieson helped us control the center of the field.  Our defensive corps of Reed McDonnell, David Sohn, Chris Hylwa, and Jake Lord helped shut down much of Westminster's offense.
    We had a great team effort, but the MVP of the game was our goalie, Quang Bui.  A slippery ball and soggy field make the worst conditions for a goalie, and time after time Quang risked life and limb to charge out and take the ball away from a potential break.  When Westminster would rip a shot, Quang's steady hands were there to catch the ball every time but once.  It could have been a much closer game had a lesser goalie been in our net.

    On a perfect October afternoon, the 4ths squad opened its season by scoring almost as many goals as it did for the entire 2009 season.  Rob Kiska put us on the board at the 12 minute mark by converting a corner kick from Pat Cassidy.  Rob returned the favor two minutes later by crossing to Pat who put the ball in the back of the net. Jordan Maia converted a pass from Josh Rinaldi to give us a 3-0 lead going into halftime.
    Rob Kiska needed just 16 seconds in the second half to blaze down the right side of the field, beat all the defenders, and rip one past the goalie.  A minute and a half later, Pat Cassidy took a pass from Wes Jamieson and beat the goalie to build our lead to 5-0.  With both Rob and Pat in contention for a hat trick, Pat pulled it off at the 16 minute mark of the second half.  Dan Sheehan finished off our scoring with less than 5 minutes to play.
    While our offensive was firing on all cylinders, our fullback corps of David Sohn, Reed McDonnell, Jake Lord, and Chris Hylwa turned back every T-P foray into our territory.  Our guys were so effective that our goalies (Lee Pryor and Quang Bui) never touched the ball.  Tremendous hustle from Josh Grossman, Ben Sasani, and Cam Ortega helped us dominate the midfield.
    It's possible we had scored an 8th goal.  In the first 5 minutes of the game, Chris Capece slipped a shot past the goalie who continued to play the ball and cleared it out before the ref could blow the whistle.  Eyewitnesses say the ball had crossed the line and that Chris should have been awarded the first goal of our season.

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