South Side rides shutout streak

Posted

Despite not allowing a goal in three weeks and being undefeated, South Side had a little more work to do last Friday to secure the Nassau Conference A3 boys’ soccer title.
The Cyclones got the job done in familiar fashion — a goal off the foot of senior Joe Buglione and a shutout from junior goalkeeper Danny Kelleher — and edged second-place Hewlett, 1-0, at Rockville Centre Sports Complex. The Bulldogs were seeking a share of the conference crown.
“After the first 10 minutes, we played lights-out,” coach Fred Paul said after South Side completed the A3 campaign with a mark of 8-0-2. “We played 15 kids and they all contributed. We had a ton of corners and eventually scored a beautiful goal on a through ball,” he added.
Junior Rob Reis set up Buglione’s team-leading eighth goal, which came 10 minutes into the second half. Kelleher, on the way to posting an eighth consecutive shutout, made eight saves.
“I felt good about this team from Day One,” Paul said. “They’re a closely connected group and everyone is doing their jobs. The guys who are supposed to be scoring are scoring, and we’ve cleaned up some early breakdowns we had on defense. We’re pretty to watch sometimes.

“Winning the conference is great, but it’s not the ultimate prize we’re looking for,” he added.
The Cyclones will enter the Nassau Class A playoffs as one of two undefeated conference champions (Garden City) and the likely No. 2 seed. They’ll host the winner of an outbracket game this Friday.
“We’ve been very focused from game to game,” Paul said. “We just have to continue to practice and prepare well and be ready for whoever the opponent is going to be.”
South Side outscored its conference rivals by a 23 to 4 margin and hasn’t allowed a goal since a 2-1 win at Carey on Sept. 24. In the rematch on Oct. 10, Kelleher not only blanked the Seahawks but also provided the only goal of the game off a direct kick from 40 yards out. “Danny has really come into his own,” Paul said. “On top of everything else, I can’t say enough about his distribution skills. He jump-starts our offense a lot.”
The bulk of the defensive work in front of Kelleher is handled by seniors Sean Hurwitz and Dan Diez, and juniors Nick Giganti and Matt Guinan. “We defend as a unit, but we leave Sean and Nick on an island sometimes and they’ve been able to handle anything that comes their way,” Paul said.
Should the Cyclones (11-0-2 overall, seven goals allowed) surrender goals in the playoffs, Paul said he’s confident in their mental framework and ability to answer. In addition to their biggest weapon, Buglione, they have six others with multiple goals on the year. Reis has six, senior Dylan Chruma has four, sophomore Vasion Sinjari has three, and senior Matteo Romanello, junior Aidan Prendergast and senior Sal Buglione all have a pair.