Naugy makes smooth transition into new season

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NAUGATUCK — The Naugatuck boys soccer team graduated 11 seniors from a team that played for a state championship after securing its fifth straight Naugatuck Valley League title.

There were some questions heading into this season, namely how to replace two-time All-State defenseman Yan Silva and All-NVL goal keeper Aren Seeger.

So far the transition has been a smooth one.

The Greyhounds picked up a pair of 3-0 wins over Waterbury Career on Sept. 7 and Seymour on Sept. 11 to start off 2-0.

In the season-opener versus Waterbury Career, junior goal keeper David Green made two saves in the net.

On offense, Naugy spread the ball around. Gustavo Medina scored a goal and tacked on an assist to pace the Greyhounds. Tommy Martins put one in the back of the net, and Jake Corbo dished out two assists. Kareem Morris also tallied a goal to complete the offensive output.

“We have had some very good sequences and shown an ability to keep the ball on the ground,” Naugatuck head coach Ryan Kinne said. “We had 31 shots against Waterbury Career but we just struggled to score. We’ll get there.”

Against Seymour, seniors Brandon Sampaio (2 saves) and Numan Yilmaz (1 save) split duties in the net and combined for the shutout.

Once again, the Greyhounds showed the capacity to spread the ball around on offense. Chris Akinduro and Jay Barth found the back of the net, and Martins put one in for the second game in a row. Corbo racked up his third assist of the season, and Fred Longo and Bruno Silva added assists.

“We could have had a few more goals against Seymour,” Kinne said. “But we did finish a few chances. We’ve had some very good possessions and gaining some confidence in what we are doing. It’s just a matter of cleaning up our final product. The defense has been showing consistency, and we will certainly be tested [this] week taking on Woodland and Watertown.”

Naugatuck will host Torrington on Tuesday, Woodland on Thursday and Watertown on Saturday.