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NEW CANAAN, Conn. New Canaan High School's boys soccer team got a taste of what it can expect as one of the league favorites in its season opener Thursday at Danbury High School. In a physical battle from start to finish, the defending Class L state champions settled for a 1-1 tie against the Hatters, who won just five Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic Conference games a year ago.
Jon-Luke Ferrandino scored in the 67th minute for the Rams. Kenny Wilson tied it in the 76th minute for the Hatters with a blast from 18 yards out on a direct kick. The Rams, who are seeking their first league title since sharing the crown with Greenwich in 2005, are one of the teams most observers predict will be in the championship hunt. Their opponents know that and have something to prove against them.
"It's hard to say if being a target will affect us too much,'' coach Victor Sanchez said. "We compete in a very tough league. I'm sure people won't be taking it easy on us."
Wednesday's game was physical from the outset. Two New Canaan players went down with ankle injuries in the first 2:30 on aggressive tackles by the Danbury side. The rough-and-tumble soccer didn't stop, with three yellow cards assessed during the match. Both benches bickered with officials throughout the contest. "Danbury is a physical team,'' Sanchez said. "It's never easy to come to Danbury and play here."
New Canaan managed just two shots on goal in the first half, and Scott Levene made two fantastic saves (six for the game) in the first 40 minutes to keep it scoreless. The Rams came out charging in the second half and fired three shots on goal in the first 30 seconds.
Danbury kept it scoreless until Ferrandino took a pretty feed from Steven Velente and scored from 12 yards out on a hard ground ball that snuck inside the left post. Danbury got new life when Levene left with 6:31 left due to a yellow card for talking to officials. Ferrandino, a wonderful midfielder, replaced him in goal. "I wasn't too crazy about that,'' Sanchez said about Ferrandino's first appearance in net. "Some of the kids on the team had confidence in him. That shot that went in, not many players would have stopped it."
Wilson's blast rocketed untouched into the right corner of the goal to give the Hatters the tie. Both teams pressed for the go-ahead goal in the final minutes, but it didn't come. It was not a loss for the Rams, but their body language indicated that they felt this was one they should have won.
"Danbury is a good, tough team,'' Sanchez said. "Even though we're a little disappointed, I saw a lot of positives. We possessed the ball and controlled it for the majority of the game."
Contact Tom Renner at trenner@mainstreetconnect.us.
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