The seniors were honored prior to the start of the boy’s soccer game versus Pennsauken on Tuesday night and they played a key role in a 3-0 victory.
“Senior night is an emotional night,” head coach Jason Meile said. “Kids sometimes try to do too much and go outside of their skillset.”
“For the guys to settle in like that and respond was good. As a coach you want them to be able to adjust and do what they need to do.”
Cinnaminson is now 1-0-1 overall and 1-0-0 in the Liberty Division.
“Every team in our division is tough,” Meile said. “A couple breaks go their way, they had a couple good runs, to get a win today was extremely important.”
Senior Mike Deal had a strong night in net, notching a handful of key saves late in the second half to preserve the shutout.
“I’ve felt good,” Deal said. “Our goal this year is to get as many shutouts as possible.”
“Jarrod (Averill) and I have played together for a while now. Our defense is strong. Add in Brad (Miller) and PJ (Dluoik) and we’ve got a lot of talent back there.”
Seniors Ryan Mahaffy (assist from Dom Coppola) and Chris Updike both netted goals in the winning effort.
“It felt great to score on senior night,” Mahaffy said. “We’ve been working hard and the chemistry up front is getting there. We’ve got the defense back there keeping us in games.”
The only non-senior goal scorer Tuesday night was Dan Kern (assist from Jake Vermes).
Kern opened the scoring with a rocket past the Indians keeper on a rebound from a shot that hit the crossbar.
Coppola played a beautiful ball to Mahaffy who was able to beat the Pennsauken keeper to make it a 2-0 game just minutes later.
“Coppola played a good ball to me and I was able to beat the keeper,” Mahaffy said of his goal. “We’re scoring goals right now and it should help our confidence.”
Updike put the icing on the cake with just around one minute left in the game on a shot that followed a throw-in along the Pirates bench.
All three goals were scored in the second half.
The Pirates have not lost to the Indians since they joined the Liberty Division in the BCSL back in 2012.
Cinnaminson returns to the field on Thursday, September 15 for a 3:45pm home game against Moorestown, another Liberty Division opponent.
“We had an opportunity to see Moorestown play twice. They’re very physical,” Meile said.
“They’re kind of like us; they take pride in their defense. They don’t want to give up any opportunities. It’s going to be important for us to do the little things; follow up shots, anticipate and take advantage of Moorestown’s mistakes.”
It will be the third of three straight games at home to begin the season for the Pirates.
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