New Canaan Boys Soccer Erases Deficit To Tie Central 2-2

Coming into the 2015 season, the New Canaan Boys Soccer team was a squad with only a handful or so players who were varsity-tested. Which left both the Rams coaching staff and fans intrigued to find out what type of performance the team was exactly capable of. Through the first 12 games of the regular season, it’s been evident that the boys can certainly play defense as they had only allowed 16 goals coming into Friday afternoon’s contest against the Hilltoppers of Bridgeport Central. And stellar defense always keeps a game within reach. So even after the Rams (3-5-5) fell behind by two goals early, efforts on the defensive end from a host of players kept the deficit there.

New Canaan Boys Soccer Stymies Trumbull in 3-0 Victory

Early on this season for New Canaan boys’ soccer, getting a lead has not been a problem, as they have been in front in each of their first four games—the problem had been keeping them. But after Vinny Altamura put the Rams on the board early in the first half, strong defense helped New Canaan (2-2-1) hold onto its lead. Then the boys of Conner Field added to it by scoring twice off of two spectacularly executed corners in the second half to defeat the Trumbull Golden Eagles (2-2-1) 3-0 in a pivotal early contest in the FCIAC standings. “I thought we were brilliant for the way we set up,” head coach Rich Sutherland told NewCanaanite.com. “We frustrated Trumbull, who probably had close to 80 percent of the possession and I thought were very good, probably the best team that we’ve played so far.

New Canaan Rams Boys Soccer Preview: Team Spirit, Cohesion and Chemistry

Coming off a season that included a spectacular upset, 3-0 victory over No. 3 seed Platt Tech in the opening round of the state tournament, the program’s first win in the CIAC tourney since 2011, the Rams boys varsity soccer team is eager to get back on the pitch in 2015 and fight to go even further. Leading them in that fight are the team’s three senior captains—goalkeeper Griffin Paterson, center-midfielder Brett Capone, and left/right forward Jack Dinnie—each of whom “can really play,” third-year head coach Rich Sutherland told NewCanaanite.com. “Griffin, our goalkeeper, has been a standout the last couple years, which is great. Brett’s basically been ever-present on this team since he was a freshman, so he’s been there, seen it and done it now for the last three years—certainly leads off the field as well,” Sutherland said.

NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week: Courtney Overacker and Chase Williams

The NewCanaanite.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Baskin-Robbins, Connecticut Sandwich Co., Joe’s Pizza and Mackenzie’s. Congratulations to Courtney Overacker and Chase Williams for being named NewCanaanite.com Athletes of the Week. The New Canaan girls varsity soccer team’s 8-5-3 record in 2014 was good enough to qualify for the Class L state playoffs, thanks in large part to the play of co-captain Courtney Overacker. The senior forward has had a solid performance on the pitch this year, notching 6 goals and 5 assists on the season. Overacker’s penchant for coming up big was especially noticeable down the stretch, scoring a goal and an assist in a 2-0 win over Danbury last Thursday and following it up with another goal and assist in a 7-0 win over Bridgeport Central on Saturday.