Greyhounds getting into swing of things

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By Ken Morse, Citizen’s News

Naugatuck’s Manny Silva (5) clears the ball from Holy Cross’ Kadin Talho (11) during a game Oct. 6 at Holy Cross High School in Waterbury. -JIM SHANNON/REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

NAUGATUCK — After opening the season with a convincing win over Wolcott, the Greyhounds stumbled a bit with a loss and tie in their next two games.

Naugatuck fell to an improved Holy Cross team, 2-0, Oct. 6. The Crusaders added several players from Chase Collegiate, which abruptly closed in August, including Naugatuck residents Patrick Osiecki and Jaden Paniagua. Osiecki scored both goals for Holy Cross against Naugy.

“It wasn’t one of our better performances that’s for sure,” Naugatuck head coach Ryan Kinne said. “After over a month of conditioning I feel we are getting into the swing of things and we showed that in our season opener, but we didn’t show it against Holy Cross.”

The Greyhounds made easy work of Wolcott in a 7-1 win Oct. 1 to start the season. Mateus Filho led the charge with three goals. Dan Davy scored twice, and Chris Akinduro and Ryan Galiette each added a goal.

Naugatuck’s Simon Diaz (7) makes a sliding tackle on Holy Cross’ Justin Forine (1) during a game Oct. 6 at Holy Cross High School in Waterbury. -JIM SHANNON/REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

Pedro Crivella, Jay Barth and Simon Diaz dished out assists. Jon Almeida and Dan Anderson combined to make three stops in goal against the Eagles.

“We have a deep team again this year,” Kinne said. “We have quite a few talented players. We have high aspirations for this season and what we hope to accomplish.”

“Obviously the game with Holy Cross was a setback,” he added, “but with it being only the second game of the year there is still a lot of improvement to be done.”

Naugatuck sought to get back in the win column at Watertown Oct. 8 but settled for a 1-1 tie.

Watertown held a 1-0 lead in the first half. Filho tied the game with an assist from Ryan Kenelly. Almeida made eight saves in goal.

Naugatuck will play St. Paul Oct. 13 and Wolcott Oct. 15.