Stevens looks to bounce back after busy week
BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer
Last week provided a crammed schedule for the J.P. Stevens High boys soccer team with four games in five days. Fortunately, the rough stretch ended what proved to be a month-long road trip with the Hawks playing eight straight away games.

The week commenced with a 2-0 win over Linden thanks to a first half score from Mike Zinno and a second half goal from Jack Shea. Jack's brother, Matt, recorded his first shutout of the season in goal.

"Matt was tested a little bit and he did a nice job," Stevens head coach Bill Mc- Mullen said. "Defenders Steve Gadaleta and David Chessen did a nice job all week as well. They've been workhorses."

After the Linden win, the team returned to the road and traveled to Piscataway for a showdown with the Chiefs.

After playing Piscataway to a 1-1 tie courtesy of another Zinno score the Hawks took a 3-1 lead off a pair of John Salazar goals.

"We were in good shape until our center midfielder Kevin Medvecky left the game with an injury," McMullen said. "We had to make do with some defensive adjustments and we couldn't hold on as Piscataway scored three second half goals for the win."

Stevens suffered another tough defeat the following day in a double overtime affair with Old Bridge. Old Bridge found the back of the net in the second overtime period for a 1-0 victory.

"I thought we played really hard and we definitely had some opportunities," McMullen said. "We had one pulled back from the net on an offside call."

The week did end on a high note when the team returned to its home field in over a month to avenge the loss to Piscataway earlier in the week with a 3-2 victory.

Salazar provided another score and teammates Gadaleta and Doug Atmatzidis added scores as well. Atmatzidis' score put the Hawks ahead 3-1 and proved to be the game-winner as Piscataway could not net the equalizer before time expired. Without losing Medvecky to injury this time around, the Stevens defense proved too formidable,

"I think the win demonstrates that we're headed in the right direction," McMullen said. "We didn't have to make the defensive adjustments and I definitely think it made a difference. We had a legitimate shot at winning all four games last week but came up just a bit short."

"I think we're playing better than we were the first time through the schedule," McMullen said. "Hopefully Edison will see a much better team this time around."

In the first meeting between the rival schools, Edison shutout the Hawks in a 2- 0 victory. Edison enters this week's action at 7-4-1 on the year with hopes of playing into the state tournament. Stevens will look to play the role of spoiler.