Flyers ground Golden Eagles
Ethan Maroudas had a nose for the net Wednesday.
The 17-year-old, Grade 11 student scored twice to lead the Eden Flyers past the Thorold Golden Eagles 5-0 in a Niagara District High School Athletic Association senior boys soccer game at Kiwanis Field.
Maroudas fired back-to-back goals early in the second half to break a scoreless deadlock and lead the Flyers to their second victory in as many games.
The Golden Eagles, who fell 8-0 to the Sir Winston Churchill Bulldogs in their opener, dropped to 0-2.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Maroudas said. “I come back on the wing, I score some goals, and try setting up as much as possible.
“Primarily, anything moving forward (offensively) is my role on the team.”
Eden coach Adrian Fulcher said Maroudas is like a second coach when he is on the field.
“He is one of our go-to guys on offence,” Fulcher said. “He is the leader up front. If you watch, Rhys (Dominguez) runs the ball down, but Ethan calls the front of our field.
“It helps me a ton.”
Maroudas, who has played club soccer out of Grimsby for the last three years and is also a standout volleyball player, doesn’t envision himself as the next Pele.
“Soccer is just a really fun sport for me to play. It’s a tough sport to make it into the professional leagues. I’m just trying to have as much fun with it as I can.”
The Golden Eagles more than held their own in the first half before the Flyers finally broke through in the final 40 minutes.
“The thing about soccer is one goal can change an entire game so at halftime we just said we had to stay cool and it was going to come,” Maroudas said. “Eventually, we’re going to break them down and once we do, it’s going to keep going.”
Fulcher said he’s still not quite sure where the Flyers stack up in the league.
“We’re looking to make the playoffs and after that, we don’t know,” he said. “We don’t know what the other teams have out there, so it’s kind of hard to tell.
“This team could go a long way, but it depends on whether they can settle down their first half.”
Thorold coach John Pavone’s roster runs the gamut from rookies to five-year players in 12B.
“Technically, we’re varsity. We have Grade 9 and 10s on our eligibility roster,” he said. “Is it rebuilding? I guess to a degree is it because we have the scope of all four grades, five if you include 12B.
“We’re trying to find our footing.”
Dominguez, Liam Hancox and Davod Jalali also scored for the Flyers while Travis Chorney earned the shutout, including a penalty-shot save on Muhammad Syed late in the game.
SUPPORT US
On the right side of our web site, you will notice a yellow SUPPORT US button.
We are asking anyone who finds value in our work and is able to financially help us to click on the button and contribute whatever amount you feel is appropriate and can afford. There is no set amount. Any amount is appreciated.
The funds collected will be used to enhance and offset the expenses of running the web site.
