Undefeated Carey flying high

Posted

Everything is just perfect right now for the Carey boys’ soccer team.
The Seahawks pushed their record to 10-0 and moved closer to successfully defending their conference title with a hard-fought 2-0 victory over a feisty Roslyn team that was fighting for a playoff spot. Colin Gervasi scored with 12 minutes remaining to break the scoreless tie and fellow senior Alessandro Perna continued his stellar season by adding the insurance marker five minutes later.
Gino Cervoni needed to make just two saves for Carey’s sixth shutout of the season and second in as many starts against the Bulldogs. The Seahawks have allowed just five goals the entire season while scoring 34.
The run has even impressed coach 16-year coach Matt Princi, even though his boys are used to winning.
“I think you’re always surprised when you haven’t dropped a game out of ten,” he said. “This group, when they were in ninth and tenth grade, went undefeated on the JV team, and that was with me having Perna and Gervasi and Gino up with me on varsity. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised with it, but when you’re playing soccer that well and we’ve beaten some of the teams that we beat, it’s impressive.”

Carey faced winless Elmont on Tuesday and, assuming it wins, needs to beat or tie second-place Garden City in the season finale on Thursday to clinch the division. The Seahawks’ most impressive win this season was a 2-0 victory on the Trojans’ home field on Sept. 27, which was Garden City’s first defeat since it fell to Jericho in the Nassau Class A title game nearly two years ago.
“It doesn’t take much to get the kids fired up for a game like that,” Princi said. “The kids responded really well. They clearly wanted that game more than Garden City did.”
Perna scored both goals that day and has a team-leading nine this season. He had just two last spring.
“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Princi said. “He’s always been really skilled with the ball and he suddenly became more skilled than he used to be. It all clicked for him.”
Senior Tyler Balsamo has also been a scoring force of late with three goals in his last three games, giving him five on the campaign. Balsamo earned All-County honorable mention honors last spring after collecting eight goals in 10 contests.
“He’s doing what he’s always done,” Princi said. “He’s extremely fast and he’s skilled with the ball. If you’re not paying attention to him, he’s behind your back line.”
Carey has never won a county title and even though the thought of that first one and an undefeated season entered Princi’s mind, he knows that the present is still more important than the future.
“We’re always thinking about it,” he said. “It’s always a goal, but you’ve got to take it one game at a time. If you get ahead of yourself and start looking towards championships, you lose sight of what’s in front of you.”