Firestorm Heat Up To 2 – 0
NEWTON NJ – Florham Park Firestorm opened up their season with a 7 – 1 victory against Newton last Sunday on the road
Aiden Buneta rose up and tallied in 3 goals on the day in his first game in a Firestorm uniform. Luke Ferrara notched 2 goals while Jack Galante and Jack Garing got on the scoresheet with 1 each. The net was minded by Reid Baldwin who had a first half clean sheet and came on as winger in the second half. Bryce Cicchino held up the center of the pitch for most of the match but ended up in goals to close out the game.
Milo Crimi’s soccer debut was successful as he transitions from a part time player to a committed travel player for the Firestorm.
LIVINGSTON NJ – The Firestorm was on the road again for their second contest as they crossed the county boarder to Livingston. With a 6:00 PM start to the game, it was a battle against the team and the daylight.
Firestorm came home with a 3 -1 victory against our county neighbors to the east.
The scoring came from Emilio Farina, Jack Garing and Reid Baldwin. Farina had a complete game with his rebound goal in the first half and helped the team in the net as a goalkeeper in the second half.
Garing’s goal was a direct free kick that was sent to the far post and found its way into the onion bag.
Baldwin found the net after Garing placed a perfect corner kick into the box that was won by Galante who fed it to Baldwin for the third goal of the night.
It was a complete game from all players on the evening from defense , through midfield , to forwards.
The cohesiveness of Garing, Rocco Santillan and Leif Youngren in the back is what kept the Firestorm in the game and kept Livingston out of the net. They looked like season veterans who picked up where they left off last spring.
“The instinctive awareness that they have to pinch over and help each other out is something they are getting from just playing consistently with each other. Its nice to see” , bragged coach Garing in the dark after the game.
The midfield was controlled all day by Luke Ferrara and Bryce Cicchino. Cicchino was pinging top level passed out to his wingers and up to his forward. Ferrara has so much ground coverage it was impossible for Livingston to even get their heads up. Along with Cicchino and Ferrara, Alex Salamon, Milo Crimi, Galante and Jack Botwin had excellent games.
Aiden Buneta and Reid Baldwin had stellar games going to goal. Both had many chance with Baldwin finding the back of the onion bag before the end of the game.
As the lights were going out Garing was in the parking lot “The story for me was the possession. We played into the middle of the pitch and not over them (Cicchino and Ferrara). The boys were looking to connect and move the ball around.”
A complete game for the Firestorm team. They will play host to Chatham in their home opener next Sunday