Boys Soccer

September 22, 2009

Amaro, Union City blank Dickinson

Jesus Amaro Union City

Jesus Amaro made 12 saves in a well-earned shutout performance.

Click Here for more photos from Union City at Dickinson.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

JERSEY CITY – Silencing the powerful Dickinson offense is a daunting task for any goalie. But on this day, Union City’s Jesus Amaro proved up to the task.

The junior netminder kept the Rams off the scoreboard, recording 12 saves to propel the Soaring Eagles to a 1-0 victory yesterday at Caven Point.

“(Jesus) came through big for us,” Union City coach Bill Shapiro said. “He’s a very tough kid and kept us in the game because we made a couple of mental mistakes defensively in the first half. If he doesn’t come up big, we’re down two or three to nothing heading into the half.”

Midway through the first half, Dickinson (2-3) had taken control of the tempo on offense behind the duo Maxi Garcia and Darwin Cruz. But Amaro stood tall under the barrage of shots from them.

In the 23rd minute, Amaro stopped Garcia, the county’s leading goal scorer from last season, on a shot from point blank range. Just three minutes later, Amaro slid to his left to make a kick save on a Cruz shot from inside the box. Later on in the half, Amaro caught a Cruz direct kick from 30 yards away.

“He made some big saves that kept them in the game,” Dickinson assistant coach Tom Worley said. “That’s a different game if he doesn’t make those saves. We had way too many opportunities.”

 

Even when Amaro wasn’t able to stop a shot, luck seemed to be on his side as Garcia had shots go off the post and crossbar in the game.

“I think this was a very evenly matched game,” Worley said. “It came down to them taking advantage of one more opportunity than we took advantage of.”

As impressive as Amaro was, Dickinson’s Edwin Islas matched him zero for zero. Islas cleared away a Michael Marin corner kick and then in the final minutes stopped a header from Kevin Yepez.

With the game seemingly destined for overtime, Union City (2-2) captain Roberto Fernandez had other ideas. Fernandez broke the scoreless tie in the 68th minute when he stole a ball from a Dickinson player and unleashed a shot from 30 yards out into the top right corner of the net.

The Rams had a couple more chances, but once again came away empty handed. In the 74th minute, Fernandez cleared away a Cruz corner kick with a header. Just a few moments later, Amaro stopped a Garcia direct kick.

Islas made 10 saves in defeat for Dickinson.

Maxi Garcia Dickinson

The Rams' Maxi Garcia led the county in scoring in 2008, but was shut out on Monday.

 
1st
2nd
Total
Union City (2-2)
0
1
1
Dickinson (2-3)
0
0
0
 
UC: Roberto Fernandez (unassisted) 68th minute
 

Goalies: D: Edwin Islas (10 saves); UC: Jesus Amaro (12 saves).