Staples Boys Soccer Blanks Danbury

Universty of Notre Dame-bound Brendan Lesch scored a pair of goals two minutes apart late in first half, lifting the Staples' boys soccer to a 3-0 victory over Danbury on Monday afternoon.

In a tightly marked defensive game, the Wreckers capitalized on Danbury mistakes to win their fourth straight and improve to  5-2. With the win, Staples vaulted over Greenwich into a first place tie with Bridgeport Central in the FCIAC West.

"They (Danbury) are right on the verge of having a lot of skill,  so we had to play a sound game," Staples coach Dan Woog said.  "We have two more [games] this week, so let's keep it going." 

Lesch, who also assisted on Staples' third tally,  scored both his goals following turnovers, which resulted from the Hatters clearing two balls into the middle of  the field.

The ball landed on the foot of Lesch,  who lofted a pair of shots over Danbury goaltender Tyler Hewes. 

Late in the game with Danbury pressing to score,  Lesch countered a midfield scrum by sending a beautiful through ball to breaking attacker Stephen Smith, who was all alone. Smith calmly put the ball into the back of the net against a helpless Hewes.

Going into the game,  the defending CIAC Class LL state champions sat third in the FCIAC West, but were coming off a 1-0 victory over top-ranked Norwalk and appeared to be gaining momentum.

"We knew going in [that Danbury] had just upset Ridgefield," Lesch said. "We played our game,  keeping the ball on the ground and out organizing them on our breakouts by beating them with our passing.

"In between,  we played solid defense and never gave them any room to shoot. They are a talented team and never gave up."

The Wreckers continue their busy week on Wednesday,  when they host Harding, then play at Westhill on Friday.