Staples vs. Harding

The Harding match was supposed to be Staples’ season opener. A death in the family of the Presidents’ coach pushed the game back to today. Both sides are in the midst of a grueling end-of-season push. For the Wreckers, this marked the 5th contest since last Monday. They’re in action again tomorrow (at Fairfield Ludlowe, 6 p.m.) and Thursday (home vs. Westhill, 4 p.m.). — making 7 games in 11 days.

Harding is quick, and knocks the ball around. But without Staples’ depth and numbers, they were outmanned.

The Wreckers’ 1st goal came at 8:12. Harry Birch fed Noah Bender, who fired low. Less than 2 minutes later Bender had his 2nd, from Diego Alanis. That gave the senior striker 6 in 2 games — actually, in just 50 minutes.

Matt Liebergall — who continued his strong play from Saturday — netted the 3rd, on a penalty kick.

Bender started the 4th goal, with a pass to Alanis that Jack Scott finished.

The Wreckers substituted liberally, from the 20-minute mark on. Non-starters played the final 60 minutes, and showed strongly.

In the 66th minute Nate Argosh found Ryan Petersen, who blasted in a shot.

Six minutes later Petersen made it 2 in a row. He power-headed in a tremendous cross from Andrew Travers.

Bender — who came on late, due to an injured Wrecker — assisted on the final goal, a rocket by Travers.

“It’s nice to see good shots, and everyone contributing all over the field,” said head coach Dan Woog.

“But we can’t look back now — we have to look ahead. We’ve got 4 matches left, against very strong opponents. Our goal is a home game for the FCIAC tournament, and we’re going to have to be at our absolute best to get it.” FINAL SCORE: Staples 7, Harding 0. SEASON RECORD: 8-3-1.

QUICK KICKS:  With back-to-back 7-0 wins, the Wreckers wracked up the most goals in 2 consecutive games since 2006. That year, with consecutive victories over Norwalk (7-3), Trinity Catholic (8-1), Greenwich (6-2) and Central (8-0), Staples scored either 14 or 15 goals in back-to-back matches 3 times….

The Westporters outshot Harding 18-9. Freshman keeper Noah Schwaeber faced the most shots, and kept a clean sheet….

The Wreckers invite all fans to Quiz Night, this Friday (Oct. 19, Staples cafeteria, 7 p.m.). Click here for details.