Montalto owns the spotlight
Stonington junior breaks career record for goals as Bears cruise past Ledyard
Stonington — It was apropos that junior Sam Montalto set the Stonington boys' soccer record for career goals on a night when he had a hand in nearly every one his team scored against Ledyard.
After all, Montalto, a three- year starter, has spent his career playing a part in the Bears' success.
Montalto scored three goals and assisted on another as Stonington beat the Colonels, 5- 1, on Friday night.
“The past few games, I had a couple of chances to score,” Montalto said. “I probably should've broken it already. Maybe it was just fate that I had to break it at home.”
Montalto began the night tied with Joey Ponte with 63 goals each.
Montalto's record-setting goal was almost anticlimatic because it came on a penalty kick with 6 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half.
“I'm definitely happy,” Montalto said. “I'll take the penalty kick. It's nice to have two more off some nice feeds from ( senior) Owen Lindenmayer and ( junior) Will Sawin, so it's great.”
No fans were allowed at the game as the state begins tightening up its COVID-19 restrictions. Montalto's mother, Deborah, however, was allowed to watch from the press box.
Montalto, a two-time Day All-Area pick, helped the Bears win the CIAC Class M championship last season,
the program's second state title.
“His first step, his speed and his power,” Stonington Paul deCastro said about what makes Montalto so good. “He's hard to match up with because he's got that explosion. Those first five steps, he's gone. He's off to the races. He's scored a lot of goals just blowing by defenders and finishing. “
I would say that's the top thing that kind of separates him from a lot of other players.”
Colonels head coach Bill Glenney said, “He's extremely fast with the ball, which is a characteristic you don't see a lot of guys have.”
Owen Lindenmayer and sophomore Brandon Tavares, the latter who is a goaltender, also scored for the Bears (10-1). Sophomore Connor Tavares added an assist.
“What's underestimated about him is what's around him,” Glenney said. “He's got a ton of good players around him that can put him in position to be successful. He's good enough on his own, but when you surround him with the group that Stonington has with a coach like Paul, he's bound to be successful. He's a handful.”
Freshman Sebby Fieldsend scored and sophomore Tyler LaPerle had the assist for Ledyard (7-4).
Glenney played his second-and-third string the majority of the second half because he wanted to get some of his banged-up starters a rest headed into next week's ECC postseason experience. The Colonels had three other players out.
The Bears scored four times in the game's final 32 minutes.
“(Stonington is) tough to play against when we're 100-percent healthy,” Glenney said. “I thought we did a really good job with (Montalto) in the first half. Obviously, the second half, putting my younger guys in there, I knew they weren't going to be able to contain him. It was an expectation that's really not a good one.”