By PAUL GOTHAM
Unfinished business.
The McQuaid Jesuit Knights put the closing touches on a unblemished regular season with a resounding 6-0 victory over their arch-rival Aquinas Li’l Irish Thursday night on Tom Seymour Field.
Just don’t expect Nino Pilato’s squad to spend much time celebrating.
“We’re 0-0 now,” the second-year coach said referring to the upcoming sectionals.
One year after falling on penalty kicks in the quarter-finals, McQuaid, currently ranked No. 1 NYS Class AA and No. 2 nationally, has its sights set squarely on post-season accomplishments.
“It doesn’t really matter until you finish an undefeated post-season,” Adriano Margiotta said. “That’s what really matters.”
Margiotta, who leads McQuaid with 13 assists on the season, collected three helpers Thursday including one on Brennan Brown’s marker to start the scoring for the night.
Second-chance opportunity: Nick Bonfiglio redirects an Adriano Margiotta feed. McQuaid 5 Aquinas 0 pic.twitter.com/m2FZwM3tL9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 13, 2017
“Browny had a great finish,” Margiotta said.
The play started along the left flank when Chris Maenza found Margiotta in the middle third. The senior midfielder deftly threaded a pass through the Aquinas backline and caught Brown in stride for a 1-nil advantage.
“That was just a good play all around us keeping the ball on the carpet,” Margiotta noted. “A lot of our goals we have some great buildup which is definitely one of our strengths and one of the ways we’re able to get through defenses.
Dylan Duffy netted the next two tallies. If the senior defender’s effort is any indicator, McQuaid is not taking anything for granted.
Duffy followed his own shot and collected the rebound for his third goal of the season. Ten minutes later, he stayed with the play when teammate Dominic Duncan let fly from outside the 18-yard box and gathered the rebound for a 3-0 lead with less than 16 minutes remaining in the first half.
“You just got to stay hungry,” Duffy said. “Usually you got to put those away on the first chance, but if you follow it through, sometimes you get lucky. I got lucky on those two that they came to me.”
Duffy added an assist early in the second half as Justin LaFountain put the game out reach at 4-0.
“Just being able to put on a performance as a defender that’s not usually something I do,” Duffy said. “I’m excited I got the opportunity to do that.”
When the two teams met earlier in the season, Aquinas chose to play in defensive shell putting 11 guys between the ball and their goal at all times. The tactic worked as the Li’l Irish held McQuaid scoreless on that day for nearly the first 35 minutes of the match. The Jesuit Knights, though, eventually won 5-0.
Thursday night, Aquinas opened it up electing to try and beat McQuaid in an up and down contest.
“I thought we played well in the first half,” Aquinas coach Josh Gleason said. “We did what we had to do. They’re number two in the nation for a reason.”
Aquinas (7-7-1) closes its regular season Friday at Edison/Monroe.
Nick Bonfiglio and Vincenzo Capezzuto added a goal apiece for McQuaid. Maenza assisted on Capezzuto’s marker.
Earlier in the week, McQuaid clinched number one seed in the upcoming Class AA tournament.
“I got to give the credit to Nino our coach,” Duffy said. “He really got us disciplined and got us to play as a team and a family.”
The Jesuit Knights will find out their opponent when the brackets are announced on Saturday.
“It’s a great group of guys,” said senior sweeper Quinn Minich. “Most of us are seniors. This is our last time. We come out every game and give 110 percent. This is what we get when we give 110 percent every game.”
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