Guilderland boys soccer coach Mike Kinnally wasn’t happy with his team’s effort against Shaker last Friday, but he’ll take the result.
Pat Quinn and Caleb Ciaschetti scored second-half goals to lead the Dutchmen to a 2-0 victory over Shaker and keep Guilderland’s record perfect heading into the final week of the regular season.
They’re a hard team to play, Kinnally said of Shaker, which entered the contest on a seven-game winning streak. `They battled for everything.`
Neither team got much going offensively in the first half, but the momentum shifted in Guilderland’s direction in the second half, especially after Quinn tallied. The Dutchmen (13-0 league, 15-0 overall) kept pounding Shaker’s goal until Ciaschetti tallied to seal the victory.
`The first half was probably one of our weakest halves of the season,` said Kinnally. `The second half, we looked more like us, but we still had to battle for everything.`
Guilderland goaltender Devin Bailey stopped all four Shaker shots he faced to pick up his seventh league shutout of the season. Joe Glackin made nine saves for Shaker (8-5, 10-5).
The Dutchmen have three games this week. After playing Columbia Tuesday, they visit Bethlehem Thursday before traveling to Niskayuna Saturday.
Kinnally said the schedule works out favorably for Guilderland, since he anticipates the Dutchmen will build some momentum heading into their rematch with Bethlehem.
`I’m just glad we’re playing them after Columbia because I always say we play better after we get a game under our belts,` Kinnally said of Bethlehem, which Guilderland defeated 2-0 in their first meeting Sept. 20.
If Guilderland gets by Columbia and Bethlehem with its perfect record intact, the Dutchmen appear to have a good chance to end the regular season without a loss against a Niskayuna team that has struggled this year. But, Kinnally is still concerned.
`A hot goaltender, a free kick and home field advantage ` that’s a recipe for disaster,` he said.“