Gaels ready for postseason

Written by Ken Morse, Correspondent
Thursday, 05 November 2009 10:23

The Shelton High boys soccer team dropped a 1-0 heart breaker to Amity on Oct. 26 in a contest that that eliminated it from the SCC tournament.

The Gaels didn’t let that affect them, as they closed out the regular season on a strong note shutting out Lyman Hall 3-0 on Oct. 28 and West Haven by a 4-0 margin on Oct. 30.

Shelton (11-5) will now have a full week to prepare for the upcoming Class LL state tournament.

Last season, the Gaels advanced to the the second round compiling an 11-8-1 record.

Coming into this season head coach Joe D’Auria and assistant coach Larry Cicarelli had concerns over how the team would come together offensively.

The Gaels put the ball between the pipes 47 times and allowed only 17 goals to reach the 11-win mark for the second year in a row.

Shelton was shut out in four of its five losses, including its second 1-0 loss to Amity.

The Gaels did get to avenge another 1-0 loss by defeating the Westies on Senior Night by a 4-0 margin.

“I’m proud of the way this team bounced back and finished the season strong,” D’Auria said.

“We didn’t make the SCC, but that allows us to have a full week to focus on the states and to work on a few things,”

Shelton took out its tough loss to Amity on the Trojans of Wallingford.

It was a raw, rain-filled night at Finn Stadium, but the defense swarmed all over Lyman Hall allowing goalie Alex Howland to save five shots in the shutout win.

Joey Lobello got Shelton on the board when he took a pass from Joey Pires and pounded it into the back of the net.

Craig Beachman, Jawaad Qureshi and Arthur Jorge along with Joey Joyce and Joshua Mathews limited the Trojans advances with hard-nosed defense.

The shots were even at eight apiece, but Howland was the difference maker in between the pipes for the Gaels.

Qureshi took an assist from Christian Lombardi and got it to go inside the post as Shelton opened up a 2-0 advantage in the second half.

The Trojans aided the Shelton cause when a pile up out in front had the ball inadvertently kicked in for the final 3-0 margin.

“It certainly gives us something to build on the way we finished the regular season,” D’Auria said.

“I was really pleased at how the team responded on Friday after we lost to West Haven in the first game of the season.

“They came out and had fun. There was no pressure and they executed their assignments.”

Shelton celebrated Senior Night with an impressive 4-0 win led by goals from Qureshi, Andrew DaSilva, Johnny Doung and Nick Mavilla.

Lending assists were Lobello, Paul Kuna, Lindsley Barrett and Joyce.

Howland saved two shots, with Michael Bolton making one save, to combine on the fifth shutout of the season for the Gaels.

“This group does a good job competing for positions,” D’Auria said. “It helps to make us a competitive team.

“We were in every game we played this season and we are looking forward to continuing that in the states.”