Sports
Boys Soccer Team Remains Undefeated
Final score: 8-0, Cougars. Cranford has allowed just three goals this season.
For the first time in program history, it appears Cranford High School's boys soccer team will be bestowed the top spot when the Union County Tournament is seeded Thursday night.
The Cougars are 8-0, having beaten perennial contender Westfield, which nipped perennial contender Scotch Plains-Fanwood. Cranford has allowed just three goals this season.
What the Cougars are doing is playing like a top seed.
Tuesday afternoon, Cranford took a 5-0 halftime lead at Memorial Field against winless Roselle (0-6) and won 8-0.
Pat Hartnett had three goals in the first half, his second half trick of the year. Senior Alex Roscha had two and Jeff Francis, Matt Giodon and freshman Jake Waleski tallied goals in the second half. Nick Pace added three assists and junior Ray El-Khoury assisted on Hartnett's first goal. Hartnett has 11 goals on the season.
The Cougars dominated play for the entire first half and had several great chances before pulling away. They outshot Roselle 15-0 in the first half.
"It's very frustrating at times,'' said Roscha, who gave up soccer for four years before joining the team this year. "Knowing you can score against a team like Roselle. Not saying they are bad. They have talent, but nothing like ours. We did what we had to do.''
Coach Mike Curci was able to use 31 players in the rout, including seven freshmen.
"It gave them a chance to play varsity soccer,'' Curci said. "A lot of those kids will move into the lineup next year when you lose a lot of our starters.''
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