Clarkstown North Soccer Looks to Recover from Tough Start to Season

Rams varsity soccer looks to improve on a difficult 2 - 0 start to its season when they play Nanuet on Wednesday.

The Rams lost their season opener to the Albertus Magnus Falcons, 3 – 0, last Tuesday afternoon.  The game was a tough challenge for the Rams, who entered their first game of the season with numerous ineligible players. 

"The first game was hampered by a lot of ineligible players for various reasons," said Rams' Head Coach Brian Bentley.  "We were a little thin, so the workload on the eligible guys increased."

In their game Monday against the Pearl River Pirates, the Rams had a much fuller roster, however, they struggled with team cohesiveness and focus on both ends of the field.

"Right now, we're playing more as individuals on the field," said Bentley.  "I think that when we click, good things will happen.  Right now, there's too much of a focus to score, but if you can prevent your opponent from scoring, that can win the game for you as well."

Defensively, the Rams had difficulty marking players. 

"We had some guys who were leaving their guy," said Bentley.  "We need to focus on marking guys tighter so there's not as much space to let them work so they can't put themselves in position to score.  It's not rocket science, it's just doing the simple things." 

This allowed for Pearl River to move around them more easily, which led to open shot attempts on the goal.  Three such shots were in the back of the net to put Pearl River up by three.

Unfortunately for North, the Pirates' goals went unanswered, as the Rams were unable to execute effectively as a team on offense. 

"We played a little too much kickball tonight," said Bentley Monday.  "We need to anticipate where we're going to pass the ball, move it around, and make some guys run for the ball." 

The Rams chance at coming back was unfortunately cut short, as the game was called on account of the quick change in the weather late Monday afternoon that brought heavy rains.  It will count as an official game, since one half had been completed.

Coach Bentley pointed out that, for many of the players on the team, this was in fact their first game of the season.  This makes the difficulty with team cohesiveness more of an expected challenge, rather than a likely season long impediment. 

"It's trying to put it all together without losing too much time," said Bentley.  "It comes down to guys believing in one another, since they have to be able to trust that guys are playing their position, otherwise guys are trying to fill gaps."

Bentley is looking for his two goalies, senior Josh Pleeter and junior Tyler Margolis, to push one another to improve as the season progresses.  The Rams' will be needing senior sweeper Tommy Colaprico to provide the leadership on defense to make sure his teammates are in position, marking their opponents, and communicating. 

In the midfield is senior Anthony Barbetto, who is very aggressive and very athletic.  The Rams will be looking to him for headers, to win 50/50 balls, and to inspire his team with his level of energy.  Senior forward Alfredo Godinez will be an offensive force, with his ability to strike from both his right and left foot.  As one of the bigger players on the team, junior forward Zach Deminno will be needed to make things physical while also utilizing his skillful passing.

"Around those guys we have a lot of skillful, younger players," said Bentley.  "We'll be getting them in the mix and it's just a matter of rounding off the rest of the players, to get them to step up the level of play and to get them to commit."

Practice this week for the Rams will focus on the fundamental skills and making the team a more cohesive group, with each member focusing on playing their position.  Despite the rough start to their season, the Rams are ready to face Nanuet at home and take their first win of the season.

"We have some youth in the mix and talent wise, we have some decent talent and skill," said Bentley.  "For us, it's going to come down to how bad we want it and being more aggressive on the field, right now I think we're a little complacent.  We have a home game, so hopefully the fact that we're on our home field will get the guys amped for it."

Clarkstown North looks to get their first win against Nanuet at home on Wednesday at 4 p.m.