Freeport piling up the goals

The Freeport boys’ soccer season has seen plenty of offensive firepower in the early going.

The Red Devils have struck for 35 goals through eight games to race out of the gates to a 6-1-2 overall record and 3-1-2 in Conference AAA. Freeport, which has won two in a row with an 8-1 win against Westbury Sept. 19 and a 4-1 victory at Massapequa Monday, has found early-season success despite graduating seven seniors from last year’s 8-4-3 team that reached the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

“We definitely knew that we had a lot of potential to score goals and it was a matter of whether our guys would be consistent and that's still something that we're working on,” said sixth-year Freeport coach Craig Klasson. “They move the ball and it doesn't matter who scores, but it matters how we go about it each game and they're playing together. They have good chemistry right now, and they trust each other.”

The Massapequa win featured two goals from Aaron Gomez and one apiece by Emerson Molia and Jesus Sorto. Kevin Leon also tallied two assists.

The Westbury victory in which Freeport led 6-1 at halftime featured two goals apiece from seniors Angel Nativi and Bryant Cruz. Seniors Lucca Noboa and Jason Villeda also paced the offense with a goal and assist. David Menjivar and Gomez also got on the score sheet with one goal each.

Freeport’s offense also erupted in a 7-2 non league win against New Hyde Park on Sept. 14 led by two goals from Cruz and single rallies from Daniel Villanueva, Elmer Morales, Noboa, Villeda and Nativi.

The blowout home win against Westbury came two days after a hard-fought 2-1 setback at Farmingdale. Senior defenseman Kristian Hernandez netted Freeport’s lone goal on a free kick, and senior goalie Edison Rios kept the Red Devils in the game with eight saves.

Klasson credited Hernandez, a captain, with leading a backline that has held opponents to one goal in three matches.

“He has been like a brick wall for us,” said Klasson of Hernandez. “I just consider him to be the anchor of our defense and he's really had an outstanding season so far.”

Freeport concludes its September schedule with a road match at Academy Charter before hosting Port Washington for a Saturday morning match on Oct. 5 at 10 a.m. After a road tilt at Syosset on Oct. 8, the Red Devils will be home for three straight matches starting Oct. 10 against Hicksville at 5 p.m.

Klasson said reaching the playoffs for a second straight year is within grasp in the challenging 13-team Conference AAA, which has eight available postseason spots. Last season it took three straight wins to close the season to reach the playoffs with a 7-3-3 league mark and the Red Devils have tough October matchups on the schedule looming with Syosset, Port Washington and Plainview JFK.

“We just have to take one game at a time, because we have some very difficult matchups later in the season,” Klasson said. “Hopefully we're trending in the right direction.”