Tornaritis Powers Crusaders
On a beautiful, crisp fall afternoon sophomore forward Matt Tornaritis scored twice in the first half and added a third goal 4:34 into the second half to pace the Groton-Dunstable boys soccer team past Westborough 4-0 in Midland B league play.
The Crusaders outshot Westborough 15-4 with no shots on goal for the Rangers after the break. That stat pretty much sums up just how well the defense controlled play. Seniors Adam Kmetz, Mike Keating, Paolo Filho, Tim Higgins, Eric Stone, keepers John Nyilis and Jamie Bailey (Bailey split second half ) did not allow a shot on net in the second half.
GD got on the board at 5:30 of the first half when senior Nate Pomeory scored on a direct kick from outside the 18 box. With Ranger goalie Mike Hillier shading the right side of the goal, Pomeroy hit a waist high screamer that hooked around the Westborough players and into the lower far corner. Sort of the way Bubba Watson draws a shot.
In the 21st minute, Matt Tornaritis received a great through ball from Doug Rosa and slid it past Hillier to up the lead to 2-0.
GD struck again in the 35th minute when Nate Pomeroy sent a perfect long feed, behind the Ranger defense. With Hillier out of position, Tornaritis picked up the pass and finished, to push the advantage to 3-0.
Pomeroy has seven goals and seven assists after seven games and seems to relish setting up his teammates for offensive opportunities. "Other teams know that the ball often comes to me so I enjoy distributing the ball," said Pomeroy. "I am happy for Matt (Tornaritis). He has worked really hard and deserves credit for his three goals."
Five minutes into the second stanza Pomeroy, taking two players with him again, threaded the needle to Tornaritis who went in alone and finished for his first varsity hat trick.
Shots favored GD over Westborough 16-4, corner kicks 6-0 and fouls 17-9. No cards were issued in this well played game. The MVP went to Matt Tornaritis!
GD improves to 2-0 in Midland-B League play and 4-2-1 overall. Westborough falls to 1-1 in league play and 3-2-1 overall. Crusaders travel to Barre to take on Quabbin Thursday, Sept. 27.
