By Dylan Butler
Even though the Christ the King boys soccer team led by more goals than there were minutes left in the game, Steve Karaduzovic did not let up. The Royals head coach continued to shout at his players in the final moments of their 9-1 win over Cathedral Prep Tuesday at the Metropolitan Oval as if it was the waning seconds of a scoreless championship match.
“It has nothing to do with the score,” Karaduzovic said. “It has more to do with playing one-two passes and all the little things we work so hard on in practice. That upsets me more than when we miss a goal.”
Karaduzovic’s tactics were clearly paying a toll on him physically, as he pointed to a broken blood vessel below his left eye and spoke with a strained voice after 80 minutes of screaming that surely could be heard to the Brooklyn border. But he says he has to yell to insure a team that starts six freshmen remains focused.
“Regardless of the score, whether we’re up 5-0 or down 5-0, the game has to be played to its fullest,” he said. “I’d rather take a 1-0 win and play a great game on the field than a 10-0 game with no teamwork.”
Tuesday’s game against Cathedral Prep (1-3) fell somewhere in the middle for Karaduzovic. The Royals’ midfielders and forwards showed a vast improvement from the first day of practice, as some nice combination plays created scoring chances while Karaduzovic was upset with the play of his defenders, especially their work ethic on balls in the air.
Christ the King (3-3) scored on its first quality opportunity, as Danny Garcia sent a great cross towards the far post on a free kick and found Marciej Krupa, whose header put the Royals ahead, 1-0. Herve Bertrand scored a pair of goals 10 minutes apart to put CK up, 3-0, in the 22nd minute. Goals by Anthony Locascio and Sebastian Razny one minute apart late in the half gave the Royals a five-goal cushion at halftime.
Locascio would score two more goals in the second half to complete the hat trick, while Filippo Rappa, a player Karaduzovic said needs to improve if the Royals are to be successful, also found the back the net. Johnny Guerraro scored the lone goal for Cathedral Prep, who received some outstanding play from freshman John Sprague, who played goal in the second half.
“Out of the 14 players, seven are underclassmen so we have a young group,” said Cathedral Prep coach Neil Francis. “But John is really having a wonderful time. He is learning on the fly and today they threw plenty of shots at him.”
Holy Cross 2, St. Francis Prep 2. Holy Cross (3-1-1) jumped out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Peter Biundo and Eric DiFulvio, but the Terriers rallied to tie the game on goals by Chris Belac and Rolando Rojas at Creedmoor Field Tuesday. Rojas also assisted on Belac's tally as St. Francis Prep improved to 3-1-1.
