Boys Soccer

October 6, 2009

Silva's two re-energize Kearny

Eddie Silva Kearny

Eddie Silva scored twice as Kearny snapped a two-game losing streak.

Click Here for more photos from St. Peter's Prep at Kearny.

By Jason Bernstein
Editorial Director

KEARNY – Before his team’s game against St. Peter’s Prep, Kearny coach Billy Galka challenged forward Eddie Silva to be the offensive presence that the Kardinals were missing in consecutive home losses to Dickinson and Memorial.

Silva, who started the season on the JV team, proved up to the challenge. The junior netted a pair of goals as the Kardinals got back on track with a 3-0 victory over St. Peter’s Prep yesterday at Harvey Field.

“I told him before the game you have to show that you’re supposed to be here, that you are a good player and that you can score goals,” Galka said. “We needed him to make some kind of contribution on the offensive side of things and he did. He scored two really good goals. We’re looking for him to make contributions like that.”

Silva broke a scoreless tie in the 24th minute. After receiving a pass from Daniel Vieceli, Silva juked past one Prep defender and then put another juke on goalie Mark Zatta. With Zatta’s momentum heading towards his right, Silva kicked it in the other direction and into the net for the game’s opening goal.

“I just cut it back and then took it inside and put it to the other side of the goalie,” Silva said.

“It was important for us to score first mentally and to get back to scoring goals and putting the other team back on their heels,” Galka said. “If they had scored first I think it would have put doubts in our heads.”

Silva would strike again in the 53rd minute when he unleashed a shot from outside the box and into the left side of the net to make it 3-0 Kearny (7-2).

Silva’s goals sandwiched a long direct kick from Jason Rodrigues that deflected off a St. Peter’s Prep (8-2) defender and in the net for the game’s second goal.

These proved to be enough for the Kardinals with James Doran in net. Doran and Kearny withstood multiple Prep scoring chances in the second half. The biggest one came in the 47th minute when a Matt Woods penalty kick struck the left post. Zatta made seven saves for St. Peter’s Prep in defeat.

Kearny has been the one struggle for the Marauders this season, as both of Prep’s losses have come against the Kardinals. The last time St. Peter’s Prep lost to Kearny, a 3-2 defeat on September 14, they responded with seven straight victories and head coach Josh Jantas is confident that his squad will rebound in similar fashion again.

“We’re confident that if we play our game well we can compete with anybody,” Jantas said. “We just try to do what we do and do it well.”

While the Marauders look to bounce back on Wednesday against Dickinson, Kearny hopes they have broken out of the slump that plagued them for the past week.

“You’re going to have periods, hopefully not many, where you have adversity with injuries or playing poorly,” Galka said. “You expect it to happen, but you just hope it doesn’t last for long.”

James Doran Kearny

Kearny's Jimmy Doran made six saves in a shutout performance.

 
1st
2nd
Total
St. Peter's Prep (8-2)
0
0
0
Kearny (7-2)
2
1
3
 
K: Eddie Silva (Daniel Vieceli) 24th minute
K: Jason Rodrigues (unassisted) 40th minute
K: Silva (unassisted) 53rd minute
 

Goalies: K: Jimmy Doran (6 saves); SPP: Mark Zatta (7 saves).