By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A trio of early offsides calls articulated a clear message: the Aquinas boys’ soccer team planned to be on the attack, Monday morning.
The end result confirmed that mindset.
Alfonso Vito finished with a hat trick and three assists while John Leary netted his own three-goal output as host Aquinas defeated Bishop Kearney, 9-0 in Private-Parochial League action.
Aquinas improved to 3-0 with the win.
“In the first two games, we saw a lot of good individual moments, but collectively we haven’t been great yet” said Aquinas head coach Josh Gleason. “We found some good concepts today.”
Nicola Costa took a through-ball from Vito and slipped behind the Kearney backline for the game’s first goal. Then Vito one-timed a feed from Ali Shabani to Leary for a 2-nil Aquinas advantage before connecting for his first tally of the game.
Charlie Sorensen added to the scoring outburst before halftime.
What started as the Li’l Irish looking out of sync and drawing a series of whistles, became an offense finding its rhythm.
“The concept of soccer is obviously to keep the ball away from the other team, but you have to go forward at some point,” Gleason said. “You have to score goals at some point. Does it bother me that people are offsides? Not a ton. That just shows we’re being assertive, and it shows that we’re focused and goal-oriented.
21’ Play starts at midfield with Ali Shabani, ends with an Alfonso Vito through ball to JB Leary and 2-nil Aquinas lead. Charlie Sorensen connects from 25 yards out one minute later. Aquinas 3-0. pic.twitter.com/qtXXiGc6kB
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 4, 2023
“If you’re making great runs, and you’re offsides by a smidgin, so be it. I don’t really care.”
Any chance for a second-half comeback from Kearney was quickly dismissed. Leary found the back of the net less than one minute into the second stanza.
When it was over, nine different players had directly contributed to the AQ offense.
“The personnel is there,” Gleason said. “We have depth on the bench. We have guys on the bench who would be starting other places. Keeping everybody happy, feeding a lot of mouths and getting our top guys to play a little bit more together than individually. That’s the most important thing.”
On a morning when the temperatures rose into the 80s, Aquinas outshot Kearney 17-2 with a similar advantage in corner kicks taken at 10-4.
Gleason pointed to his squad’s ability to use the heat to an advantage, but the 12th-year coach doesn’t expect a similar result when the two teams meet later in the season.
“Kearney is good, well-coached. I just think today is a hot day. It’s tough to want to get up and get after it. We were on the right side of that. It won’t be like that next game at their place. I know it won’t. You take it when you can get it.”
51’ Jimmy Marotta saves the ball on the end line. JB Leary finishes for the hatty. Alfonso Vito finds the back of the net a minute later. Aquinas 7-0. @SecVBoysSoccer pic.twitter.com/s9ybGpf4iw
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) September 4, 2023
A season ago, the two teams played to a scoreless draw. Kearney went on to win the Section V Class B2 title in 2022, but gone from that squad are starting keeper, Sam Furioso and Private-Parochial League Player of the Year, Luke Tytler among others. Tytler’s absence from the center of the pitch was of particular note on Monday as Sorensen and Shabani dictated play in the middle third of the field.
“It’s everyone on the field,” Sorensen said. “That’s our game plan, control the middle and spew balls out. That’s how we score.
“We came out hard and strong. To be honest, we weren’t really that nervous. We knew that we could come out and dominate.”
Costa, Shabani, Miciah Benjamin-Castle, Sean Clark, Thomas Valentino and Carter Wegman added an assist apiece in the win. Tin -Tin Pasia also found the back of the net.
LJ Gleason made two saves for back-to-back clean sheets.
Aquinas hosts McQuaid on Saturday for a 5:30 PM start. Kearney travels to play at Pavilion/York on Thursday. A 4:30 PM kickoff is scheduled.
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