By Joseph Staszewski
Chris Ray understands that soccer scoring chances are traditionally at a minimum when Archbishop Molloy and St. Francis Prep meet, so the Stanners junior knows he had better make his count.
He didn’t miss his chance.
Ray ran a perfect through ball up the middle of the field from Danny Corridan and proceeded to chip it over the head of charging St. Francis Prep keeper Chris Kilcarr in the 52nd minute for the game’s only goal. It was enough to give the Stanners a 1-0 win against their rivals in CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens Class AA boy’s soccer Monday at Alley Pond Park. It was Molloy’s best scoring opportunity all afternoon.
“Against a team like this you are not going to get too many opportunities, so when we do get the ball up there, we really have to finish,” Ray said.
It was his third goal of the season for the defending city champion Stanners (3-0-0). This one came with Denes Kostel, last year’s leading scorer out of the lineup because of a concussion. Goals like that make Stanners Coach Andy Kostel believe Ray is getting surer of himself.
“Now he’s getting a confidence just like Denes did at putting goals in that have to be put in,” the coach said. “That was a nicely put-in goal.”
The Molloy defense led by Eric Alerte and Anthony Iurillo kept the Terriers’ attack at bay for most of the game. SFP (2-1-0) had limited shots on goal, but had a golden opportunity to score in the 75th minute. Stanners keeper John Young made a leaping save only to see the ball roll back to SFP’s Leo Dalesandro in the box for a shot. Young sprawled back in time to stop it and Iurillo was able to get his foot in front of the ball before multiple Terriers could kick in the rebound.
“Anthony kept his foot strong and eventually got it cleared,” Young said.
Dalesandro knew it was a close call, but thought the ball was over the line and a goal because Young was behind the line when he made the save, Dalesandro said. The referee saw it otherwise. Still, he thought his team let it get to the point where it needed a late score. Molloy outplayed them.
“The first half they dominated us,” Dalesandro said. “That’s what happens a lot. We take too long to retaliate after they score.”
Terriers Coach Franco Purificato sees this game as a perfect early season learning experience for a team that has just three seniors and is full of juniors with limited varsity experience. He said Molloy was more aggressive throughout.
“We’ll take it as a lesson, absolutely,” Purificato said. “Maybe now they’ll learn.”
