The Rondout Valley Ganders struck first, but the Highland Huskies struck back and more often and opened their season with a 4-1 win on Wednesday afternoon.

“We played pretty good,” said junior captain Luigi, who scored two goals for the Huskies. “We put a whole bunch of shots on goal. We definitely came out a lot stronger than last year. It was definitely a good start for us this year.”

After falling behind 1-0, Liam Whalen took advantage of a corner kick from the left side, he sent the ball flying toward the goalbox, but the ball bounced back toward him and he buried it into the top right corner of the net to tie the game.

“I think it showed them that we didn’t mean to give that up,” Mazella said. “We just needed to wake up. As soon as we put that back in, they realized we were the better team.”

Mazzella’s first goal gave the Huskies the lead when he buried a direct kick over the outstretched hand of the Rondout Valley goalkeeper.

“Last year, we would have given them another one, gone down 2-0 and the clock would run and that would be it,” Alfonso said. “The opportunities were there. They had one shot and one goal, and we were able to take a lead at halftime, which was big.”

Then in the second half, the Mazella scored his second goal off another successful corner kick. Angelo Castellano sent the kick from the right corner and Mazella took the shot off his head, for a 3-1 lead.
Tyler Johnston scored the Huskies’ last goal with just over 20 minutes remaining the game.

“At the beginning, we had three or four really good opportunities,” Alfonso said. “The goalie came up with a nice save over there. We took advantage of every cross. We took advantage of every corner kick, and we were able to convert four of them in the goal.”

Overall, it was a good start for the Huskies (1-0, 1-0 MHAL-II), who finished second in divisional play last year.

Mazzella said the Huskies feel more like a family this year than last year, and believes his team has the capability to make a run in the Mid-Hudson Athletic League and in the Section 9 tournament.
“We’re looking to win every game possible,” Alfonso said.