A scoreless draw served as a reason to hope for Kennedy and one to reexamine itself for Bronx Science.
Neither team found the back of the net through 90 minutes of boys’ soccer action during 0–0 game in PSAL Bronx A play on Oct. 2 at Kennedy. The Wolverines, which have not lost a league game this season, generated plenty of scoring chances, especially in overtime, but couldn’t finish. Kennedy goalie Charlie Osorio made seven saves to help show his squad it has the skill to play with the division’s elite team.
“It feels good that we tied with them,” Osorio said. “Now we have more confidence that we might be able to tie or even beat the other teams.”
Bronx Science (5-0-2) certainly tested him throughout the game, including a shot by Arun Massand that hit the crossbar in the 42nd minute. The Wolverines best play and chances came in the two overtimes however. Nicholas Bienen Esayian and Nicholas Karkut both had shots that missed just wide. Osorio stepped in front of a Tomas Cabo-Hervada shot redirected by Filip Jovanovic and a 12-yard blast from Cabo-Hervada in the extra sessions.
“We had trouble getting the ball up the field, getting the ball in the net,” Cabo-Hervada said. “We had a couple of chances in the overtime, but the first two halves the intensity wasn’t enough.”
First-year Kennedy coach Matt Singer felt a good performance like this was coming from his squad. The Knights (2-4-1) lost 3-0 to Bronx Science in their season opener, but have learned to play better as a unit since then. Kennedy has plenty of talent in Nana Danso Prah Edwards, Nana Darkw Prah Edwards an Ousman Ceesay. It is just a matter of them all meshing as one unit.
“They are very skilled individually, but getting them to cooperate and play together is one of our biggest challenges that we face,” Singer said. “Our last two games we won because we are playing like a team. They are having fun.”
As Kennedy looks to build off its recent strong play, Bronx Science will try to get back to the quality soccer that earned it a lead in the division. The Wolverines are not a star driven team, but one powered by balance and crisp passing. Bronx Science was noticeably out of sync early and Wolverines coach James Cancellaro expects a better effort from his squad.
We had a couple of crosses in [the box] and we just didn’t put them in,” Cancellaro said. “We just weren’t running hard enough to the ball. Our intensity was low the weak side halfback should have run over at tapped it in. The game would have been over in regulation.”
