Naugy girls perfect on the young season

0
107

Naugatuck’s Suzana Amaral (5) fends off Brittany Dainiak (6) of Ansonia Monday afternoon in Ansonia. The Greyhounds defeated the Chargers 3-0. –KYLE BRENNAN

ANSONIA — Sean Dunn doesn’t think his Naugatuck girls soccer team has a star scorer just two weeks into the season. But Alexya Alves is starting to make her case.

Alves scored twice Monday to help lead the Greyhounds to a 3-0 win over Ansonia and keep Naugy perfect on the season.

After Steph Lima scored the game’s first goal early in the first half, Alves took over in Naugatuck’s attacking third. Just more than 10 minutes into the contest, Alves settled a ball at the top left corner of the box before she fired a shot into the opposite corner of the net for a 2-0 lead.

She added an insurance goal with 11 minutes remaining in the game after taking a pass from Christina Jando and sneaking a shot between Ansonia goalkeeper Angie Garcia’s legs.

“She’s always working hard,” Dunn said of Alves. “She wants to score all the time so sometimes she gets a little frustrated when she doesn’t, but that’s any striker. She’s been doing well. She got two today and one on Friday night, so that should settle her down and give her some confidence.”

Nina Mariano and Emma Colucci also tallied assists for Naugatuck, which did not allow a goal in its first three games of the season.

Dunn credited the 240-minute shutout streak to the team’s experienced defense and solid goalkeeper, Caliah Baranowski. The latter only saw three shots from the Chargers but easily saved them all.

Naugatuck’s Katarina Gullotta (8) battles with Melissa Pannone (3) of Ansonia Monday afternoon in Ansonia. The Greyhounds defeated the Chargers 3-0. –KYLE BRENNAN

“I think our defense has veteran girls back there and they know how to get us out of trouble,” Dunn said. “We have a good goalkeeper, too, so when there is stuff going on she can make a save. We’re working on our possession and keeping the ball on top so we can get into the attacking third.”

The second-year head coach also credited a pair of captains for settling down and setting up play on the field.

“Katarina Gullotta in the midfield and Kelly Koslosky in the back are very strong anchors,” Dunn said. “The girls are very calm when they’re on the field so they help a lot.”

Naugatuck followed up the win over Ansonia by beating Wolcott, 2-1, on the road. The Greyhounds return home to face Torrington on Friday. They will also visit defending league champion Watertown next Tuesday night.

“We just have to keep going forward,” Dunn said. “We know we don’t have super powerful offensive players. We have to possess and make sure our defense is strong. If it’s 2-0 or 1-0, that’s fine. I like to see our offensive variety so it’s nice to see that we don’t need to depend on one player to score.”