Colts Look Solid in Season Soccer Opener

The Calhoun High School boys soccer team put in a solid performance in its opening game of the season against Wantagh Tuesday, withstanding a strong offensive effort in the first half and steadily gaining control of the game before settling for a hard-earned 0-0 draw.

The game was played in warm September sun and a stiff cross-breeze, and on pristine grass of the football field of Wantagh High School, a fact that did not go unnoticed by coach Jim Cantley.

"We're not used to playing on a field like that," said the Colts coach.

Not that a good field slowed down his team much. The Colts, led by co-captains Dan Elliot and Andrew Lief on defense and Brian Grambo and Alex Ras at midfield, held their own for 80 minutes against a strong Wantagh squad that dominated the game offensively from the opening kickoff til midway in the first half.

That's when Calhoun, which had been playing for fast break opportunities while containing Wantagh, got off its first shot on a fast break from midfield at the 20-minute mark.

The shot came on a sequence of passes from James Gliwa to Ryan Goldband and forward to Chad Fuschillo, who got a strong kick off, though it failed to convert. While that was far from a big threat, it seemed to ignite the Colts offense–over six or more minutes, it was nearly all Calhoun, with a punctuation to the team's momentum coming when Alejandro Miguel got a pass off to Goldband, who nearly collided with the Wantagh goalie at the goal mouth in his effort to push the ball in.

Calhoun had another chance in the first half at the 6:25 mark when Lief got a high arcing pass through to Grambo, who just missed getting his head on the ball about ten yards from goal.

The biggest offensive moments of the first half belonged to Wantagh, however -- two of them in fact. In the first, senior wingman Sean DeVito stole a Colts pass, found himself wide open about 15 yards from goal on the right side, and launched a cannon-shot that ricocheted off the far goal post and back into the waiting arms of Calhoun goalie Andrew LaClaustra. Lucky? Perhaps. However, LaClaustra had better chance to show off his stuff a few minutes later, diving full-body to his right to save a stinging low line drive that was headed into the goal mouth.

For all the drama of the first half, the second was more of a steady effort by the Colts, who effectively controlled the game tempo and mounted increasing offensive pressure.

The effort culminated in a number of shot opportunities, most notably a cross from Stephen Elliott to Dan Elliot at midfield, who crossed to a charging Lief. Lief got the shot off, a good solid one at that, but it went wide.

In the end, the Colts held their own. They held Wantagh scoreless, and whilevirtually limited to fast break opportunities in the first half, showed off their stamina, depth and determination in the second half, while offering signs that the offense could very well click as the season progresses.

"Calhoun looked good," Wantagh coach Tom Liguori said afterwards. "I thought the teams were evenly matched."

Cantley was pleased with his team's performance.

"It was our first real game and a good workout," he said. "We have good fitness and good depth, and some of the younger guys really showed me something. Now we have to figure out who's going to score goals for us."

The Colts travel to Garden City Thursday for their first league matchup. Kick-off is at 4 p.m.