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caption, page 7: Adian Muller scores first goal.
As basketball season is getting started at Putnam Science Academy, the soccer season — and the school’s teams — continue to roll on.
All three Mustangs squads won their games handily this week; with the girls’ team trouncing St. Andrews 10-0, the boys’ prep team topping Hoosac 5-0, and the boys’ varsity team rolling MacDuffie 12-3.
The latter was led on Oct. 16 by Josue de Leon, who scored four times, and earned high praise from coach Ivan Damulira.
“Josue De Leon has been our best player on and off the pitch,” Damulira said. “He plays and works hard no matter the opponent. He has really been a positive key player on this team and I am proud of him.”
David Menzies had a hat trick in the win, while Artur Silva, Luca Almeida, Javier Moscardo, Matus Vician, and Alvaro Redondo added one goal each for the Mustangs (4-3).
The prep team readied itself for a showdown later this week with Berkshire Academy by overwhelming Hoosac on Oct. 18. Aidan Muller and Matheus Reis scored in the first half before the Mustangs (6-1) played a crisper game after halftime to put away the win. Jenluis Parades, Filippo Marcantoni, and Gabriele Formiconi tallied the final three goals.
Coach Sam DeMello was happy with the turn in play in the second half, but is still looking for that complete game.
“We’re still in that situation where we go through lulls during games,” he said, “and we come out and the tempo is really high and then all of a sudden it drops down for a period of time. Against the top-level teams, that’s not going to be good enough. But there were definitely pockets of some good things in this one.”
PSA plays at Berkshire on Oct. 26.
Girls’ Team
Finally, the girls ‘team closed out the week with another dominant win on Oct. 19. Karol Souza had four goals (giving her 15 in five games), and Ana Aldaz had a goal and two assists for the Mustangs (5-0), who have outscored their opponents 46-3.
Ana Velasco, Elisha Clinkscale, Lu Guimaraes, Ana Garcia, and Tais Mota all had one goal, and Steph Davis had five saves in the win. Coach Jen Bennett was especially pleased with the play of her midfielders.
“Claudia (Paz) and Tais work hard in the midfield and I’ve been really pushing them to distribute the ball, change the field, split the defense,” she said. “They have been really doing great. My outside midfielders have also been doing fantastic. (Aldaz) had two assists and a goal.”
Bennett noted a number of other players who are succeeding in new positions.
“The changes that we’ve made in the last week or so, I’m very pleased with,” she said. “I love that the players are stepping up and getting the job done.”
Stephen Nalbandian
Sports Information Director
Putnam Science Academy