‘Hounds, Wildcats dual to draw
SEYMOUR — Quite a few seasons have passed since the Naugatuck and Seymour boys soccer teams had an all out free-for-all on the pitch. Last Friday at DeBarber Field in the Greyhounds and Wildcats were at it again, but this one wasn’t decided as both teams had to settle for a 2-2 overtime tie.
It was just like old times as Naugatuck head coach Art Nunes and Seymour head coach Joe Perrucci traded barbs along the sidelines. The Greyhounds came in at 8-0 and tops in the NVL with Seymour at 7-2.
Naugatuck had won 25 straight NVL contests but Seymour put an end to that streak coming back twice in the game. The first time to send it to overtime, and the second time to tie the game at the end of the overtime.
“All the missed opportunities that were there was because they decided to play the game the way they wanted to play it instead of playing our style and it cost us,” Nunes said. “We need to regroup and replan on what we are going to do and reapply what we want to accomplish and see if it sinks in.”
Nunes said the Greyhounds aren’t used to playing on grass with the turf field at Naugatuck High. But, he added, it didn’t play a role in the game.
“We are not use to playing on grass, but it’s no big deal. It’s just one bump in the road,” Nunes said following the game. “We have three more games coming up next week and we will just prepare and move on to the next one.”
Naugatuck came out and had the clear advantage keeping Seymour in its own end for much of the first half. The Greyhounds got off 11 shots to the Wildcats three shots on goal but Naugatuck had trouble finishing what they started.
Numerous times the ‘Hounds broke the defense and penetrated the box, but there was no weak side help to finish the job before the Seymour defense regrouped.
Joe Martins, Diogo Cruz and Candido Carrelo had their hands full trying to maintain possessions at midfield with the aggressive physical nature of Seymour disrupting the flow.
When the Wildcats did manage to cross the ball into Naugatuck territory Felipe Dutra, Abdul Gadoush and Devon Curtis were quick to the ball on defense with Tyler Saad belting booming kicks down field to keep the advance out of harm’s way.
Nunes went to the bench to keep fresh legs out on the field as Dan Martins and Mike Campos came on to make their presence felt at midfield with Yan Silva and Yunis Yilmoz providing speed along the sidelines.
With 17:15 left in the first half Naugatuck finally got one to go as Ygor Silva sent a blast on goal. Seymour keeper Peter Ragiani made the initial stop, but the ball bounded loose towards the far post. Josh Aviles raced over to clean it up and slammed the rebound into the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
In the second half Naugatuck came out and applied pressure. The Greyhounds created three opportunities in a 3-minute span but Ragaini (12 saves) was up to the challenge leaving his feet to block the attempts at the net.
Two direct kicks from Dan Silva didn’t find the back of the net and his corner kick out in front of the Seymour goal with 14 minutes to play didn’t find one Naugatuck player who could get a foot on the ball as the missed opportunities started to pile up.
Seymour took full advantage and a minute later tied the game at 1-1 when Jean Virvet backed into the box and dished it off to Chris Fitzgerald, who turned on the defender and found a clear lane into the net.
“We had opportunities but we started to panic and stopped playing our style,” Nunes said. “They started to do their own thing instead of staying with the game plan and we let them go to see if they had the fortitude to pull this out. No excuses. Seymour played a real good game and the type of game they needed to play against us. It got physical on both sides and we play a pass and control game but the crash and bang was successful for Seymour.”
After a scoreless first overtime session Naugatuck scored with 6:45 to go. Ygor Silva found Aviles across the front of the box for his second goal of the game to put the ‘Hounds out in front 2-1.
With 4 minutes left Brandon DosSantos came crashing through the box taking down the defender and sticking one past Enzo Pereira (six saves) but the referees waved off the goal calling Seymour for a penalty.
But the Wildcats would not be denied. With 1:42 left on the clock and the ball being booted around out in front of the Naugatuck goal Colin Szuch steered a pass to the far post to a wide open Colin Mattutini that tied the game at 2-2.
There was no draw Tuesday when Naugatuck beat Crosby 3-1. The Greyhounds were led by Dan Silva, who scored twice.
On Wednesday the Greyhounds (9-0-2) faced Torrington (8-2-1) in a rematch that was a scheduled out-of-conference game although they are both Naugatuck Valley League teams. The NVL rivals played to a 1-1 draw. Dan Martins scored in the overtime to give Naugy the lead, but Kevin Vaca put one in the net in the second overtime to knot the game at 1-1.
The Greyhounds return home on Friday to host Holy Cross for a 6 p.m. showdown.
