By PAUL GOTHAM
CHURCHVILLE, N.Y. — Barely six minutes had elapsed in Monday’s Monroe County league matchup when Churchville-Chili’s Dylan Rippe redirected a cross from right wing on to the Pittsford Sutherland goal. Less than 30 seconds later, Rippe’s teammate, Andrew Vannest, sent Sutherland keeper Sam Smillie sprawling to make another save.
The Saints then proceeded to work for three straight corner kicks before Vannest took advantage of his second opportunity to give C-C a lead it did not surrender.
It was a matter of time.
Coming in waves, Churchville-Chili never stopped. The result was the their sixth straight win.
“We have a team this year that attacks,” Saints coach John Mahoney said after C-C’s 2-0 win over Sutherland. “We especially attack in transition. You know it’s going to come with this group. We have a lot of offensive talent going from the midfield forward. It’s not just the forwards. Our midfielders are scoring goals.”
With the ball pinging from one foot to another mixed with a flurry of overlapping runs and diagonal passes, Churchville’s offense is not one centered around a single player but rather a single focus.
Vannest’s marker was his fourth of the season for a team which has outscored opponents 23-1 over the last six games. Six different Saints have found the back of the net on multiple occasions this season.
“A lot like last year, we don’t have that dangerous guy who’s going to score 15 or 20 goals, but we have a bunch of guys who can score between five and 10,” Mahoney noted. “That makes us dangerous.
“We have guys looking for the ball and then guys looking for space. Some teams you have guys just looking for the ball. You know it’s going to come with this group. We have a lot of offensive talent going from the midfield forward.”
Seamus Parker found a sliver of an opening to feed Vannest whose shot glanced off the near post before fluttering the net in the 30th minute.
“I saw the goalie keeping to the middle,” Vannest explained. “I didn’t hit it very well, but it was good enough to go in the goal.
“I had a shot early and got saved by the keeper. That really kinda made me mad, so it really made me want to score more.”
The Saints didn’t stop from there getting two more corner kicks before the end of the half.
Parker made it 2-0 less than 10 minutes into the second stanza when Vinnie Matias intercepted a clearing attempt and fed his teammate who redirected the pass top shelf for his first goal of the season.
50’ Vinnie Mathias intercepts a clearing attempt and feeds Seamus Parker for the redirect. @CCCSDbsoccer 2-0 pic.twitter.com/IPxUEjOCbZ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 17, 2018
“It really started last year,” Mahoney said mentioning Colby Egan and former player Cam Shuman. “They really set the tone. We had a good year. We knocked the ball around and possessed it here at Churchville like we haven’t in 15 years. We’ve never possessed it like that. The guys are really picking it up a notch.”
The shutout was the fifth clean sheet and fourth straight for the Saints. Sutherland challenged Chase Richardson on a handful of occasions, but the C-C keeper was up to the task.
“These guys, they’re coached well in the offseason,” Mahoney said of his side. “Varsity coaches either get too much criticism or too much credit. Good coaching in the offseason is everything. I have quality offseason coaching with these guys. Both the senior class and the junior class are coached by really good coaches in the offseason.”
Churchville travels to play at Penfield on Wednesday.
Sutherland (5-3-0/2-2-0) plays at Greece Athena on Friday.
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