SPORTS

Kennedy turns up the offense

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First half scores by senior David Bungo and sophomore Domenico Maffei, both on assists from senior midfielder and co-captain Jason Bergman helped put Kennedy back on the winning track in a 2-1 victory over Sewanhaka in Nassau County Conference A-1 boys’ soccer last Monday.

The Cougars (3-2-3 overall, 2-1-2 in Conference A-I) bounced back after a tough defeat to Wantagh just three days earlier, when the Warriors only shot, a tip in off a scramble in front of the Kennedy goal with just three minutes remaining, turned into the lone score of the game.

Coming off a trip to the Final Four in the Nassau Class A playoffs driven largely by a defense and goalie that racked up 10 shutouts, Kennedy made a few tweaks to the scheme and has taken a more aggressive approach in 2014.

“It was almost a change in our [usual] philosophy to take our midfielders and offense and make other teams mark us,” coach Jason Elias said of the now aggressive approach. “We’ll see how that goes.”

So far, so good, as Kennedy has twice put up four goals and then the pair in the win over the Indians. What stands out among the consecutive scoring outbursts against Lynbrook — a 4-2 win on Sept. 15 — and Carey — a 4-0 win three days earlier — is the balance of the attack. Four different players scored against the Owls, and three had tallies against the Seahawks, led by senior Dan Kauderer, who had two. “Our strength, no doubt is our midfield,” Elias said. “This is collectively the best five [starters] I’ve ever had.”

Bergman, the team leader in assists (six), works in the middle with seniors Eric Soto and Alec Thea. The three co-captains all bring something different to the table with Bergman a skilled ballhandler with great dribbling skills and speed, Soto a natural leader with great intangibles and Thea the type of playmaker who’s also aggressive enough to keep himself involved in the mix. Bungo, senior Jack Rosenzweig and junior Jaret White are all in the midfield mix. The work of the three co-captains helps free up Kauderer, senior Josh Weitz and freshman Skyler Gershon to make plays at forward.

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