Huntington Herald

Gaels looking to jumpstart offense

Written by Ken Morse, Correspondent
Thursday, 27 October 2011 12:59

The Shelton High boys soccer team came into last week sporting an 8-2-1 ledger, knocking 27 goals into the net while allowing just nine markers on the season.

But, the Gaels offense has gone stagnant — scoring just two goals over the past three games.

Shelton battled North Haven to a 1-1 tie on Monday and then locked up with Amity in a scoreless draw on Wednesday. The Gaels closed out the week by dropping a 6-1 decision to Cheshire to fall to 8-3-3 on the season.

Shawn Niedzwieki scored the lone goal against Cheshire, assisted by Joey Lobello, but it did little to erase the 3-0 halftime deficit Shelton faced against the Rams.

Tyler Howland made seven saves in the net for the Gaels and Dan Lisi came up with a pair of saves, but Cheshire had the upper hand, holding an 18-10 edge in shots on goal.

The game against Amity was a defining moment for Shelton, as it already had a 2-1 win over the Spartans earlier in the season. But, the offense that has been generating an average of close to three goals a game suddenly disappeared and head coach Joe D’Auria was infuriated by the results.

Coach D’Auria was unavailable for comment after the disheartening 0-0 tie with Amity, as he initiated an immediate practice following the lackluster performance.

Both teams had early opportunities to take the lead in the first five minutes of the game. Matt Brouillette split the Amity defense and raced in on the Spartan keeper Noah Safian. The shot caught the Amity keeper in the midsection and he held on for the point-blank save.

Two minutes later at 35:26 of the first half, Sean Beaulieu received a pass along the sidelines for Amity and took it into the box.

Howland came out to defend, but the shot got by him and headed for the far post. Zach Johnston reacted for the Gael defense and knocked it out of harms way and this game was on.

At the 25:13 mark, Anthony Castro got a lead pass over the head of the Amity defense, finding Matt Manzo in full stride. The quick shot surprised Safian, who protected himself more than going for the save and stopped a head-high blast inside the box.

Shelton was getting its opportunities, but they were coming too far apart.

The quickness of the Amity defense was cutting off the passing lanes and limiting scoring threats before they materialized.

The Gaels needed to put more bodies in the box in order to put some pressure on the Amity defense. At 13:18, Shelton finally utilized its passing game to create the best opportunity of the half.

Jacob Teixeira cleared a ball out of the Shelton end, finding Brouillette over the middle.

A crossing pass to Castro hit him in stride, as he maneuvered past two Amity defenders. Stephen Arena received a pass just outside the box and he quickly pitched it to Brian Niedzwieki breaking in at the post.

The shot sailed wide and for all the effort, the Gaels came up empty and Amity had dodged the bullet. The game went into the break deadlocked at 0-0 and Shelton needed to find a way to finish what it had started.

Defensively, Joe Stein, Guiterez DeSouza and Johnston gave Howland all the support he needed out in front of the net. But, Shelton needed to put the ball in the back of the net.

Amity came up with two golden opportunities early on in the second half. Two direct kicks from inside the 20-yard line were saved by Howland, as the scoreless game headed into the final 20 minutes.

At 14:20 to play, Manzo settled a loose ball at midfield and dribbled it into the box.

Safian charged out and tripped him up, as the shot never got off. With time running out Lobello steered an advance towards Arena, but the shot went wide of the post. Howland made a final save in the net as the game finished in a scoreless deadlock.

Shelton will need to get the offense started again as the final week of the regular season will have the Gaels traveling to Middletown to face Xavier on Wednesday before the start of the SCC tournament.

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