Hawks blank Larkin in UEC opener

By Curt Herron

Bartlett's defense of Brett Palmer, David Wade, Brett Dini and Fabio Aiello and keeper Jeff Gal are just getting used to playing with each other.

But you wouldn't really know that about one of the key areas in the field for the Hawks if you'd have seen that group in action so far this season.

Despite its relative inexperience on defense, Bartlett has only allowed two goals and has recorded three shutouts through its first five matches.

The latest fine defensive effort was turned in Thursday when the Hawks blanked Larkin 2-0 in in their Upstate Eight Conference opener in Elgin.

"Our defense is turning out to be the strength of our team," Bartlett coach Ben Beary said. "We only have two returning defenders, our stopper Brett and keeper Jeff. The other three guys are new to the varsity and one of them is a sophomore, Fabio, who's playing on the outside along with David, while Brett is our sweeper.

"The four defenders have never played together on a team. They bend but don't break and the thing I like about our defense is that Fabio and David could be midfielders on some teams since they can control the ball so we can slowly bring it up field.

"That variance of attack makes us hard to defend since in order to stop us you have play full-field defense. And having Brett at the front of that defensive unit and Jeff in the back has made it a very solid unit."

Thanks to a well-assembled goal that it collected during the early stages of the match, Bartlett (4-1, 1-0) had all of the scoring that would need against the Royals.

Just 3:10 into the contest, Alex Ortiz made a perfect pass to fellow forward Mike DiNuzzo, who was able to put in a short shot to give the Hawks a quick 1-0 lead.

"I have to tell you, it was the sweetest through ball that I've seen yet this season from any team," Beary said of Ortiz's assist to DiNuzzo. "From about the 18, Alex chipped it perfectly just over the defender's head to Mike on the right side, who basically one-touched it and put in a hard shot. It was an awesome play."

The Hawks kept up the pressure during the initial 20 minutes as Anthony DiNuzzo, Tommy Russo, Aiello and Wade were all able to put shots on goal.

Larkin picked up its pressure during that latter part of the initial half but Bartlett was able to get good attempts from Tyler Lake and Marino Zaccaro.

At the start of the second half, Bartlett continued threatening the Royals' goal, beginning in the first minute on a header that was set up by a free kick by Palmer.

A short time later, Joe McCullough put a shot on goal and then Carmelo Abate was stopped on a short attempt that was set up by a pass from Ortiz.

"On our first goal, I thought I had a good assist and Mike had a good finish," Ortiz said. "I think getting that early goal helped us because after that we gained confidence and started to take control of the game.

"We're feeling pretty good right now since we think that we're going to have a good season. I like the friendship on our team, the communication we have, our ball possession and control and also our good defense."

There was a span of over 10 minutes midway through the second half where neither squad seriously threatened the other team's net.

That drought ended with just under 15 minutes remaining when Abate sent in a line drive and the Hawks were able to add an insurance goal about four minutes after that.

With 10:44 left in the match, Lake got free on the side but the opportunity seemed to be lost when he briefly fell, however, the sophomore got up and fired in a shot to conclude the scoring.

Gal handled everything that came his way until exiting with less than 10 minutes remaining. Morgan Bartel made one save during his brief stint in the net.

After posting a 3-1 record in the West Aurora tournament, with their lone loss being a 1-0 setback to unbeaten West Aurora, the Hawks are excited about where they're at right now.

"We bounced back well from our loss to West Aurora and I didn't even talk to my guys about bouncing back," Beary said. "I just told them that we need to get back to what we do best and our game after West Aurora was our best game because we controlled it from beginning to end. That helped get our confidence going again.

"Winning the conference opener was huge considering the young team that we have. Opening-season tournaments are always nice to get a team's camaraderie going and to find your place as a team. But it's different competition in your conference and the intensity level is up since everyone knows that there's more on the line."

Man of the match: Alex Ortiz

By Curt Herron

Bartlett starters vs. Larkin