Colts Soccer Blanked by Garden City, Nieto Out for Season

Calhoun's Joe Nieto will likely miss the entire season of his senior year after breaking his nose in the Colts 1-0 loss to Garden City on Thursday.

Nieto jumped fairly for a head ball with Trojan midfielder Teddy Spanos in the seventh minute of Thursday's non-league game, crashing into the cheek bone and eye socket of Spanos, who needed more than 15 stitches after the game.

Calhoun coach Jim Cantley estimated the injury to Nieto will rule him out for between six and eight weeks, likely forcing him to watch all of the team's 12 league games from the sidelines.

"He's got a broken nose, which means he's probably done for the season which stinks because it's his senior year," Cantley said of Nieto.

"It wasn't a malicious play at all. It was a 50-50 ball and they went head-to-head."

Rocked by the early injury, Calhoun started slowly. While the Trojans rarely threatened in the opening 15 minutes, Cantley's men looked even less likely to score, pinned in their own half and struggling to play against a stiff head wind.

Calhoun fell behind in the 19th minute when John Tarzian fought his way inside returning defender Andrew Lief, but instead of dropping their heads, the goal seemed to spur an otherwise quiet Colt offense into life.

With scrappy fouls causing a stop-start affair, the Colts were limited to speculative efforts until the 29th minute when senior James Gliwa took the ball on his chest and freed Ryan Goldbond down the right wing.

Goldbond ran at the heart of the Trojan defense, and while the move ultimately came to nothing, it sparked them into life and led to a string a promising chances.

Chris Carlson got on the end of Justin Bergman's incisive ball through the middle of the Trojan back four to cause a moment of panic and several blue shirts were lining up for Carlon's 32nd-minute free kick that Garden City goalkeeper Alex Pahlavi did well to claim under pressure.

The final 10 minutes of the half saw Calhoun (0-1-1)  on the front foot as the team pressed forward as one looking for an equalizer.

The best chance fell four minutes before half time when Bergman carried the ball through from midfield with purpose before threading a well-weighted pass to Tyler Wall. Wall timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, but he took one too many touches on the edge of the penalty box which allowed the Trojans to smother the threat.

The game was halted almost 10 minutes into the second half because of incoming lightening storms, and coaches agreed to call the game moments later before play had restarted.

"We had some good passing and we're working on the coverage on the defensive side and the communication," Cantley said, "but I think the chemistry of the team is a very big positive for us. We're a close team friendship wise and we play hard for each other."

Maybe more worrying than the actual defeat itself, though, is the fact that the Colts have now gone two games without finding the score sheet.

Valley Stream Central has scored four goals in each of its two games so far this season, while Carey has five goals in the opening two fixtures. Only two other sides– Kennedy and Long Beach–have yet to score a goal in Conference 3, although they have only played one game each.

Still, if the Colts defend like they have done in their first two encounters, one goal at the other end of the field might be enough to take maximum three points more often than not.

Cantley, now in his 14th season of coaching the boys' varsity team, said: "Where will the goals come from? That's the question. Our defense has been holding fast and I thought it was pretty evenly matched today.

"The defense will be solid, the goalkeeping will be solid, but we have to find who will put the ball in the back of the net."

Calhoun next travels to Mepham on Monday for a 4:30 pm. game.