A 2-0 loss on opening day to Northern Burlington was not going to deter the Pirates boy’s soccer team in 2015. Especially not after such a successful run in 2014 that included a sectional title.
Cinnaminson had to wait four days before hitting the field again competitively in the hopes of shaking off the rough start to the new season.
The Pirates were able to shake off that start with a 2-1 overtime victory against Pennsauken on Tuesday afternoon. It wasn’t where head coach Jay Meile knows his guys can be, but he was happy with the victory.
“I don’t think we’re there yet, personally. I thought the five guys that played in the back today did much better than they did against NBC. Just something as simple as when Mike Deal comes out for that ball, the one where they scored, someone needs to rotate back in for him so a slow rolling ball like that doesn’t happen. That was the biggest point today where they lost concentration.”
The first half ended in a scoreless tie, but not for lack of chances for the Pirates, who finished the day with eight shots on goal. Cinnaminson just couldn’t find the back of the net.
The Pirates defense played well on Tuesday, limiting the Indians to the lone goal.
“My guys in the back, they always have my back,” Deal, who finished with 12 saves, said. “Whether I’m stepping out or they’re rushing in. They always try to pick me up, really after anything happens. We play as a unit. We’re one big voice in the back; control everything, that’s our main idea.”
It took the Pirates until the 11th minute of the second half to get on the board first. Pat McCarthy was fed the ball by Mason Stepnowski and converted the pass into the first goal of the game, and the season, for Cinnaminson.
Pennsauken needed a little more than six minutes to tie the game at 23:33 on a goal from Carlos Portillo, but that would be the only time the Indians would find a way to beat Deal in net.
Regulation play came to an end with a 1-1 tie after multiple chances for both teams in the second half.
“We wanted to switch the fields,” Meile said. “The ability to find the other team’s disadvantage. With the three to five guys that we played today, we had the ability to switch the fields. It was something at NBC we did a very bad job at. It was something we emphasized at the last two practices and I think we were pretty successful with it.”
With almost half the time off the clock in overtime, Stepnowski drew a penalty kick while in the box. McCarthy stepped up to take it, easily depositing the game winner for the Pirates.
“Mason had a great run, went hard, and got fouled just inside the box,” McCarthy said. “I stepped up to take it. I just tried to slot one down the middle. From what I saw; he (goalie Robert Auli) took a step, I caught him off-balance, it rolled right down the middle. It wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take it.”
Meile liked how his team competed today, which has been the theme since camp opened in August.
“Everybody’s gotta fight for their job and when we’re playing the other team, we gotta fight until we get to the ball and put a shot on them. This is a game that normally is a little more lopsided in our favor and they could’ve responded in a negative way, but they didn’t. They kept pushing. The overtime wasn’t very long. It was about five minutes and I thought we kind of dominated the play. They wanted it today and they have to have that mindset against every opponent this year.”
The Pirates take the field again on Thursday, September 17 at 3:45pm when they travel to Moorestown to take on the Quakers.
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[…] The athletic week opened Tuesday with four varsity programs in action. Boy’s soccer visited Pennsauken and returned home with their first win of the season, 2-1 in overtime against the Indians. […]