Panthers use skill and experience in 3-0 win over North
NASHUA – Pure skill, plus experience.
It’s a great soccer combination, and the Nashua South boys team showed that it has a lot of both in its 3-0 season-opening win over rival Nashua North.
“They’re an older team,” Titans coach Josh Downing said of the Panthers. “What I try to tell these guys is what comes with age comes with playing together. Teams that play together for a long time, they just know what to do.”
And the Panthers did it.
“They’re solid,” Panthers coach Tom Bellen said of his players. “We’re 24 deep this year. We don’t have the best 11; I think (Manchester) Central does. But we have the best 24. I can sub and move guys around, and we’re good to go.
“When we’re all on, we can fly up and down the field. I don’t think we showed quite all that today; we’re capable of playing a little bit better defensively and getting forward a little bit faster.”
Yikes. That’s quite a thought, as the Panthers fairly dominated things yesterday.
Manny Orozco Alvarez had two goals, the first coming at 27:13 of the first half to give the Panthers a 2-0 lead, the second clinching things with 6:34 left for the 3-0 tally.
He’s got a rocket shot, and can place things well, as both shots were out of reach of capable North goalie Simon Costa (seven saves). North’s leader in the backfield, senior defender Stephen Norris, did his best but definitely had his hands full.
“We’ll be hard-pressed to find a team where there’s a better player than him this year,” Bellen said. “He’s going to be one of the top five players in the division.
“He can score, has great feet, good vision, is more of a leader this year. Hopefully if he can get a couple every game, that’d be nice.”
South opened the scoring 11:24 in when Neil Kachappilly converted a right wing feed for the 1-0 lead. The Panthers have enough depth that a player such as sophomore Jadiel Bomfim, who nearly scored in the final seconds of the first half, didn’t even see much action in the second.
“We’re going to mess around a little bit because essentially it’s all preseason,” Bellen said, referring to the short schedule followed by an open tournament. “Try to find out and see what works best.”
That helps a young team like North, too.
“We have a talented group of kids,” Downing said. “We’ve got four seniors who are leaders and are working hard, but we have a really strong group of young kids, freshmen, sophomores.
“You know what, you just go out and as long as you don’t give up on anything, that’s what I want.”
The Titans did just that, as Titan Gaurav Maharjan hit the post with a blast after it deflected off South keeper Leo Kopicko’s fingers (three saves) just a minute after the final South goal.
“I told these guys it comes down to how quick we can build chemistry,” Downing said.
Right now, the Panthers have that head start.