ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A late-season tuneup served its purpose Thursday afternoon as the boys’ soccer teams from Aquinas and Bishop Kearney battled to a scoreless stalemate.
The game closed the regular season for both of the Private-Parochial League teams.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was,” Kearney head coach Stephen Strauss said. “It was fantastic.”
Kearney (13-1-1/No. 3 NYSSWA Class B) was coming off its first loss of the season – a 2-1 decision to St. Mary’s (VI).
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“This is what we’ve been talking about for a while,” Strauss said. “Our schedule was good. It wasn’t great. We knew with St. Mary’s and Aquinas in the last week that we were going to get the games we needed to get ready for sectionals.
“This was our third game in four days, and we’re a little banged up. These guys really dug deep and found that next gear, that toughness and togetherness that they need for sectionals. This was perfect to set us up the rest of the way.”
The opening half provided end-to-end action. Kearney earned an early corner kick, and AQ keeper LJ Gleason denied a scoring attempt.
LJ Gleason denies Kearney’s first corner kick opportunity. pic.twitter.com/Mha6aWYCgm
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 13, 2022
“They looked to counter,” Aquinas head coach Josh Gleason said of Kearney’s attack. “They won every ball in the middle.”
Aquinas tested Kearney Sam Furioso especially late in regulation and during the two 10-minute overtime periods. The Li’l Irish took 19 shots in the game – a half dozen of those were of the point blank nature that the senior keeper turned away.
Sam Furioso with the denial for Kearney. pic.twitter.com/pD7Y62sFZe
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 13, 2022
Sam Furioso again pic.twitter.com/WnlLXhDWR9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 13, 2022
“We knew he was good,” Gleason said of Furioso. “You got to get it away from him to score on him. You got to pull him away. He’s not going to let up soft goals.”
The shutout was the 11th of the season for Furioso and Kearney.
“We’ve been on a tear this year, so he hasn’t necessarily had as much work and the recognition might not be there,” Strauss commented. “I’ll put him up against any goalie in the area. He’s outstanding. He’s an incredible leader on top of it.”
LJ Gleason made five saves for his seventh shutout of the season.
The game was the seventh of the season in which Aquinas faced a state-ranked opponent. The Li’l Irish opened the season against McQuaid (currently No. 8 NYSSWA Class AA) and later faced the Jesuit Knights. Along the way, Aquinas has beaten West Genesee (Section III/No. 19 NYSSWA AA) and East Syracuse Minoa (III/No. 11 Class A) along with falling to reigning NYS Class B champ, Skaneatles (then No. 10) and Fairport (No. 4)
With sectionals scheduled to start next week, Kearney currently has the top seed in Class B2. Aquinas (8-5-3) is No. 7 in Class A. Final seedings will be determined this weekend with the regular season ending on Friday.
“It’s been a tough season,” commented Josh Gleason. “But I just said to the guys ‘we got to close the book and now the season starts.’ All this tinkering, we got to refine everything this week, so that we’re prepared.”
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