By PAUL GOTHAM
The Greece Athena boys soccer team passed its first test of the year. The Trojans head coach knows the potential roadblocks his team faces in reaching similar success to that of years past.
CJ Takatch netted two goals and assisted on two more while Thomas Stathopalous and Michael Monti combined for a shutout in a 5-0 season opening win over the Gates-Chili Spartans.
“We’re going to score,” Butler said. “Whether we can stop people from scoring I think is what we’ll find out.”
The scoring on Tuesday at Gates-Chili came in bunches but not before the Trojans navigated some tenuous first-half moments.
Takatch redirected a Dylan Rice feed from the flank for his first tally in the 14th minute. The attacker found the measure again in the closing moments of the half.
In between goals, Gates-Chili had its opportunities.
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“They played good today,” Butler said of the Spartans. “They had their chances.”
The best of those opportunities came when Nate Delly slipped behind the Athena backline for a point blank shot that Stathopalous turned aside.
Delly’s break followed four corner kick situations for the Spartans over seven-minute span.
“Our defense has got to shore up, our physicality and some of those things,” Butler noted. “We’re young there.”
Monti also cleaned up a couple Gates-Chili chances in the second half.
“Both of them are pretty decent,” Butler said of his goal keepers. “We got to figure out how we’re going to play them as we go along. They we’re both on the team last year, so that gives you hopefully confidence in that they’ve been here before.”
Takatch found Anthony Loiacono for a 3-nil advantage in the opening minute of the second half. He got to the touch line and fed Othman Belhseine for a one-timer as Athena put the game out of reach in the 54th minute.
“CJ is more of a playmaker than a goal scorer,” Butler explained. “There are a lot of playmakers. That’s the thing that we have this year. We’ve had that (playmaking) in the past, but I think this is the best we’ve been.”
Ryan Fiannaca rounded out the scoring five minutes later. Alex Fisher assisted on the play.
“That whole other group of guys will chip in,” Butler added. “They’re going to make plays.”
Loiacono added an assist.
Athena has taken the last three Class A1 titles.
Athena travels to Canandaigua for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Thursday.
Gates-Chili plays at Penfield on Thursday. A 4:30 p.m. start time is slated.
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