ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Josh Gleason wanted to change his squad’s pre-game routine. With the Aquinas boys’ soccer team prepared to open sectionals Saturday evening, the Li’l Irish head coach decided to revisit an old custom.
Early returns suggest the gesture paid dividends.
Alfonso Vito found the back of the net twice while Bennett Valentino and Ali Shabani both added to the scoresheet as No. 7 Aquinas advanced to the 2022 Section V Class A quarterfinals with a 4-nil victory over No. 10 Honeoye Falls-Lima.
“We met in the trophy room before the game,” Gleason said of the space off the school’s gymnasium. “That was like an old tradition. We used to meet in there.
“We took the kids to look at all the trophies. We asked the them ‘What do you want your legacy to be? Do you want to come back here in 25 years with your kids and see your name on something? Or do you want to be another team that almost made it?’ We spent a lot of time in there. It was good.”
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Vito drew a penalty inside the 18-yard box less than three minutes into the contest and converted the ensuing penalty kick. The offensive production was exactly what Gleason wanted to see.
“Do you know how many game we’ve missed an early goal,” Gleason said referring to matches against McQuaid, Brighton and Webster Schroeder. “As the game goes on, they (the opponent) grow a ton of confidence, and you start to feeling things closing in on you. Getting that early goal, it made everybody relax.”
Alfonso Vito connects for his second goal of the night just before time expires in the half. Class A Boys: Aquinas 2 HF-L 0 pic.twitter.com/2Tf0wxF0kb
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 22, 2022
57’ Iesa Mohammed catches Bennett Valentino in stride. Aquinas 3-0. pic.twitter.com/GnuDPsbK1F
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 22, 2022
LJ Gleason 🤛 out initiates a counter. pic.twitter.com/XkRMqt7sfd
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) October 22, 2022
Getting separation from HF-L was not as easy. The Cougars came out in a 3-5-2 alignment and forced Aquinas into hurried decisions.
“We were ready for them to pack it in,” Gleason explained. “We had to adjust because they were running super-hard at us in the beginning. They were causing us to make poor passes, poor decisions.”
Aquinas capitalized on a scramble in front of the net to score just before the horn sounded at the end of the first half. A clearing deflected off Vito’s back for a 2-nil lead heading into the break.
“That was super-important. It got us amped. To get in the locker room and go ‘okay, now let’s come out second half, relax and get back to playing the way that we know how to play.’”
Bennett Valentino added to the lead in the 57th minute. Iesa Mohammed assisted on the play.
“It was one of those days where he was looking to get people involved,” Gleason said of Mohammed. “They man-marked Ali (Shabani), so we put Ali out wide. Gave Iesa and other kids more room to be creative.”
Shabani capped the scoring in the 77th minute.
LJ Gleason registered his eighth shutout of the season.
Aquinas will face No. 2 Webster Thomas in a rematch of a first round game from the 2020 season. Aquinas defeated Thomas 2-1 in that previous meeting.
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