Fornaro lifts Steinert
Crafty play by Rutgers-bound junior breaks tie
HAMILTON — It was a veteran play from a future Division-I soccer player.
Steinert junior Mike Fornaro took Nottingham by surprise with a secondhalf direct kick that no one was prepared for, snapping a scoreless tie and paving the way Tuesday for Steinert’s 2-0 win against the host Northstars.
In a physical contest fitting of the soccer version of the Battle of Klockner Road, bodies hit the turf for much of the match. Each team had opportunities thwarted by Steinert goalkeeper Nolan Kopec and his Northstar counterpart, Dwhite Gilles.
With 18:04 to play, the referee awarded Fornaro a direct kick near the top of the box. The Rutgersbound Fornaro took the ball and never asked for a required 10 yards distance with Nottingham. He just put it down and booted it in.
The Northstars did not have time to set up a wall, and Gilles — who usually plays the field but took over for the departed Chidi Iloka three games ago — was not in position to make a play.
“I knew Chidi wasn’t here and their other keeper isn’t used to the team,” said Fornaro, a starter since his freshman year. “You don’t have to wait for the whistle if you don’t ask for 10, so I just put it in. The keeper was on the post and there was no real wall set up, so I just took my opportunity and luckily it paid off.”
“It was quick and he caught us off guard,” Nottingham coach Mike Braender said. “It was a great play by him. You have to give him credit for catching us a little there.”
Nottingham nearly came back two minutes later when Winst-Dy Joseph rifled a shot over Kopec that went off the crossbar. Kopec saved three more shots in the next 10 minutes to keep Steinert in front, and with 2:49 remaining Brandon Rivera converted a cross to put the game away.
“We had a nice cross from Andre (Michalec) and I was right in the box near the 18,” Rivera said. “I just saw it and shot, and it kind of lik, curved downward and made it right under the cross bar.”
The win was the third in four games for Steinert (73), which has avoided last year’s collapse after going from 4-0 to 4-2 earlier this season.
“We talked about going back to the Princeton game,” Spartan coach Todd Jacobs said of a 2-0 loss last Tuesday. “We played very well against Princeton. These guys know what it feels like to play well and walk off and not get the result that you want.
“We went to West Windsor North and got that game. This is an excellent win, this is right up there. The guys should feel very proud of themselves. It’s a feel-good win against a cross-town rival, and these guys deserve it. Hopefully it’s a springboard and we continue to rise up and prepare for Notre Dame (tomorrow).”
Conversely, Braender is waiting for Nottingham (3-7) to turn things around. The Stars have lost four of five and were shut out for the fourth time.
“Winst-Dy had a couple opportunities, he missed one wide and he hit the crossbar,” Braender said. “They haven’t really been going in for us lately. We’ve been on the short side of things. We’ve got to just
keep playing hard.”
Follow Rich Fisher on Twitter @fish4scores and at fish4scores.com