By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The McQuaid Jesuit Knights dominated the first 40 minutes of Tuesday night’s match without anything to show for it.
Fortunes changed in the second half.
Josh LaFountain and Adriano Margiotta tallied twice apiece as McQuaid erased a halftime deficit and went on to defeat the Aquinas Li’l Irish, 4-1 in non-league action on Tom Seymour Field.
“We talked about keeping our composure at halftime,” first-year McQuaid coach Nino Pilato said. “We were the better squad in first half. We told them it would show in the second half. We just had to patient, and they were. Once they scored the one it was like the blood in the water.”
Margiotta converted a penalty kick in the 49th minute, and the Knights never looked back.
“We really turned it around,” Margiotta said. “It was a poor start from us. We felt unlucky. We felt like we were still part of the game. That’s what kept us in it.”
Margiotta gave McQuaid a 3-1 advantage when he one-timed teammate Dylan Duffy’s cross from the right corner.
“Coaches were talking about it on the sideline,” Pilato said of the play. “That’s probably our prettiest goal of the year. Strung together six or seven passes into the middle and put it on goal. We’ve been working on that concept in practice.”
Margiotta led teammate Dominic DiMonda from the center of the pitch, and Duffy moved into open space.
“I just saw the opening down the sideline,” Duffy explained. “‘Anno’ played a beautiful to Dom. I just knew I should overlap. Dom played me a one-time ball. I saw ‘Anno’ streaking. I trust him and played it in. One-time finish.”
“Dylan played a great ball into the box,” Margiotta said. “I was able to beat my man.”
LaFountain put the game out of reach six minutes later when gathered a clearing attempt of Margiotta’s direct kick outside the 18-yard box and found the back of the net.
“He’s got a knack,” Pilato said of his junior midfielder. “His first touch is so good. I’m not surprised (he scored) because he’s a good shooter, but normally he likes to pass the ball. Now it’s been a couple games in a row he’s found the back of the net. Hopefully, he’s gaining that confidence to want to score.”
LaFountain gave McQuaid the lead in the 56th minute. Duffy redirected Mike Riedman’s throw-in from the right corner, and LaFountain capitalized inside the 18-yard box.
“We came out flat in the first half,” LaFountain said. “Second half we really turned it on. It was great especially against a rival.”
Dom Chiarella converted a penalty kick in the 39th minute to give Aquinas a 1-0 lead.
Li’l Irish goalkeeper Luke Putnam made three saves in the first half including a stop of Margiotta’s direct kick from just outside the box.
The win was the fourth straight for McQuaid which improved to 11-2-0 and 3-1-0 in RCAC action.
“Rivalry wins are always great,” Margiotta said. “We were really excited to get that win.”
LaFountain scored a goal in McQuaid’s 3-1 win over Bishop Kearney last Saturday and has five goals on the season. Margiotta scored his second and third goals of the season. Duffy collected his fifth and sixth assists of the campaign.
The same two teams meet October 13th at Wegmans Stadium on the Aquinas campus.
McQuaid hosts Edison/Monroe Wednesday afternoon. A 4:15 start is scheduled.
After playing four games in five days, the Li’l Irish will return to action on October 10th when they play at Brighton.
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