Notre Dame strikes quickly to drop Trenton

LAWRENCE » After a fourday break which may have seemed like a week, Brendan Rath and the rest of the Notre Dame High varsity boys soccer team set out to correct their opening-game offensive struggles.

With senior forward Rath leading the attack, the Irish scored almost as quickly as a sudden rainstorm picked up Wednesday when they hosted Trenton High at Rev. Walter E. Nolan Field.

Rath assisted on Sam Griffis’ opening tally, then scored two of his own to lead Notre Dame to a 4-0 win, which made up for its 2-1 loss at Steinert last Friday.

“After that first game, we went back to the drawing board,” Rath said. “We wanted to slow the ball down more and work on our possession.”

“We tweaked a few things and tried a different formation,” ND head coach Rich Leedom said. “Most of all, the guys came to play today.”

When it came to work rate, Rath was second to none.

“Brendan broke out of a funk this game,” Leedom said. “I told him to just relax, be patient and it would come.”

Rath took the advice and played a part in three of his team’s four goals, as did his classmate, midfielder Alex Balsamo.

With a light rain falling In the game’s first 10 minutes, Balsamo worked a ball back to Rath, who then found senior Griffis, who put a shot past Tornadoes freshman goalkeeper Emerson Santiago.

Then, as the storm intensified, Rath crashed the far post to knock in a cross from junior Giulliano Silva with 25 minutes left in the first half.

The rain did not let up before intermission, but that did not slow the Irish. On another charge by Balsamo with 9:15 left, junior Gianluca Pozzo knocked in the rebound when Santiago came up with the initial save.

The visitors, who have played three games since their opener last Thursday, found themselves trailing, 3-0, at the break, and Rath was not about to let them regain any momentum.

When Balsamo took a free kick with 28:30 left in the second half, Rath filled the middle and leaped to head home Notre Dame’s final goal as a rainbow appeared beyond the far end of the field.

“I really think the difference in this team comes down to our bench,” Rath said. “We’re a much deeper team this year (than a year ago when the Irish went 7-9-3). And not only are we deeper, but we have the same quality all the way through.”

Trenton (1-3) was hoping to continue improving after defeating Lawrence, 1-0, in its opener. Instead, the Tornadoes were outscored, 12-1, in their next three games.

“We came out flat versus Sayreville (a 3-0 setback), then lost to a very good Seton Hall Prep team (5-1),” Trenton head coach Joe Fink said. “We had a really good practice Tuesday, so we were expecting better today, especially on their narrow field.”

Instead, the Tornadoes’ offensive struggles continued, and, to make matters worse, senior Mario Palacios got injured and had to leave the game with 10:28 left.

Trenton (1-3) 0 0 — 0 NotreDame(1-1) 3 1 — 4

Goals: Griffis, Rath 2, Pozzo (ND); Assists: Rath, Silva, Balsamo 2 (ND); Shots: 6 (T), 12 (ND); Saves: Santiago 7 (T), Wilke 6 (ND).