Fairport stymies Athena, improves to 3-0 on the season

By PAUL GOTHAM

FAIRPORT, N.Y. — By the final count, an own goal provided the only offensive production for the day, and Gianni Bussani’s Fairport Red Raiders capped the first week of the season with their third win.

“I thought the boys did a nice job of keeping that mental toughness defending and doing it in numbers,” Busaani said after Fairport’s 1-nil win over Greece Athena. “We got a lucky goal, an own goal. But that’s the game. Those have gone against us over the years. Every coach will tell you that.”

The goal came moments after Ryan Kennedy’s header off a Brandon Manz restart sailed just high.

For the Red Raiders, though, Saturday was about containing Athena’s skill and athleticism.

“We know Athena,” Bussani stated. “We know some of the quality players they have. They’re very well coached. They’ve got a lot of speed and they were really going to come at us. We focused on being compact and tight, defending in groups.”

The Trojans opened the second half on the attack. With CJ Takatch and Dylan McDermott controlling the middle third of the pitch, Othman Belhseine and Dylan Rice were able to take advantage on the outer thirds forcing a pair of restarts and corner kicks early in the half. But Athena could not capitalize.

The shutout was the third clean sheet for Fairport.

“That’s everybody,” Bussani said of his defense. “Every day in training, whether they’re in the mix of guys who are playing a lot or not, those guys are pressing the other guys. It’s a real collective effort. It’s not just on our goalie and on our backs. We talked yesterday about our defense starts with our forwards. Everyone’s got to be on the same page.”

Fairport keeper Will Hughes made a handful of saves including one on Belhseine late in the game from just inside the 18-yard box.

Athena fell to 0-1. The Trojans were scheduled to start their season earlier in the week, but a heat advisory postponed their match at St. Benedict’s (N.J.) – the No. 1 ranked team in the nation – on Wednesday.

“That’s not the start we wanted, but they’re a good team,” Athena coach Mike Butler said of Fairport. “We did some things well. We need to do a better job of creating opportunities.”

Fairport will look to run its record to 4-0 when they play at Penfield, Monday night.

Athena hosts Pittsford Mendon next Friday.