Bears surge past Senators

Brien McMahon got the game’s first goal, but Norwalk got the rest on the way to its first come-back win of the year.

By MIKE MADAR
Hour Correspondent

NORWALK — Senior striker Andres Torres scored a pair of goals to lead Norwalk to 3-1 win over city rival Brien McMahon in front of a large and raucous crowd at Testa Field Thursday night.

McMahon scored first but Norwalk rallied for its first come-back win of the season. The fourth-ranked Bears (11-2) need just a point Monday at winless Harding to clinch the top seed for the FCIAC tournament.

“It’s really important to get the No. 1 seed because we’re undefeated at home and have only given up two or three goals here,” Torres said. In the first half the chances were fairly equal but the Senators (4-3-7) struck first. Off a free kick in the 13th minute, Aleko Petridis put a shot on net that Norwalk freshman keeper Svet Kozak turned away. The rebound went right to Rolando Montero who buried it for a 1-0 lead.

Less than four minutes later, Norwalk came right back when Chris Puente bent a free kick into the box. Through the scrum, Torres got away and with his back to the goal flicked the ball in with his right foot.

“It was a great goal,” Torres said. “Chris gave a nice ball and I deflected it a little and it went in.”

For McMahon, sitting on a one-goal lead was never an option against the quick striking Bears.

“I knew we were going to have to score more,” Senators head coach Ken Dustin said.

McMahon had two great chances in the 38th minute. Off a Dilman Recinos corner, Petridis saw his shot knocked away by Kozak. On the ensuing corner, Conor Murphy ended up with the ball in front but put it over the bar from close range.

The beginning of the second half was all Bears as they took the lead five minutes in. Jake Zuniga sent a perfect through ball past the Senators defense and right to the foot of Spencer Jacoby who scored for a 2-1 lead.

“I told them they had to mark up a guy but we marked space instead,” Dustin said of his halftime message. “We played individual soccer.”

With tournament season approaching, it was an important win for Norwalk as they won for the first time when trailing.

“They’re a really good team and it feels good to keep our heads,” Torres said. “Against Staples we got down, didn’t keep our heads and let the emotion get to us.” With less than four minutes to play, Torres added the insurance goal. Jacoby sent in a ball that Torres placed inside the far corner.

After Torres scored he ran on the track past the McMahon student section and over to the Norwalk student section to celebrate.

“It felt great because it was my mom’s birthday yesterday and I got to celebrate,” Torres said.

Torres received a yellow card for his celebration, his third of the season, and will miss Monday’s game.

The Senators didn’t record a shot on goal in the second half. They host Westhill on Monday.

© 2010 The Hour Newspaper