 (Photo by Bill Allen/NJ SportAction) MINING FOR GOALS: Hun School senior star Andrew Mino, right, puts the heat on an opposing goalie in recent action. Last Saturday, Mino and his teammates found the back of the net three times as they rallied from a 2-0 deficit to edge Lawrenceville 3-2 in overtime. In upcoming action, Hun, now 7-0-1, plays at perennial Prep A champ St. Benedict's on October 11 and at Blair on October 14. |
There is no go-to guy on the Hun School boys' soccer team and that suits everybody just fine.
Spreading the wealth offensively, Hun has gotten off to a sizzling 7-0-1 start.
Last week, the well-drilled Raiders displayed their balance as they routed Pennington 9-1 with seven different players finding the back of the net as Andrew Mino and Jelani Rooks each scored two goals with Matt Florio, Mike Williams, Mike Azzara, David Willey, and Steven Giannacio chipping in one apiece
Hun senior forward Mino said the team was particularly sharp in the win over Pennington. "We moved the ball around; we worked the ball as a team," asserted Mino. "We spread the ball around pretty well; we move it well in the back and then we pushed it up from there."
The unselfish play comes naturally to Hun. "Everybody works hard and tries to get everybody goals," said Mino.
"We don't compete for goals; we try to get everybody goals. The forwards run around and try to make the defense compensate."
Hun's defensive approach also emphasizes unselfish play. "Our defense is strong; the defense always works hard no matter what," asserted Mino.
Hun head coach Chris Kingston smiled as he assessed his team's effort against Pennington. "We played well, we got it going early," said Kingston, whose club played well again last Saturday as it rallied to edge archrival Lawrenceville 3-2 in overtime with goals from Williams, Willey, and Giannacio. "We moved the ball well. There is not much else to say, we were pretty sharp."
The team's sharpness has been fuelled in large part by the team's core of seniors, led by Mino and Williams. "The seniors have been around a few years now; they are competitive," said Kingston.
"Mino works his butt off; he just doesn't stop running. That rubs off on the other guys. Mike has been playing pretty well. He plays on a good club team and he broke through last week with a goal. I think the goals will start coming a little more for him."
The Hun defense has been superb, giving up just 3 goals in seven games since a 3-3 opening day tie with WW/P-S.
"We don't give up a lot of good opportunities," said Kingston, whose goalie David Putman injured his shoulder against Pennington but was back in the net against Lawrenceville. "The guys are pretty confident in David; they play more confidently when he is on the field and that contributes to the defense."
Noting that his team has fought through injuries to such players as senior star Matt Sanford, Kingston sees toughness all over the field.
"Our schedule is going to get a lot tougher," said Kingston, whose team plays at perennial Prep A champ St. Benedict's on October 11 and at Blair on October 14. "There are a lot of tough guys
Mino, for his part, sees mental toughness as a calling card of the undefeated Raiders. "We worked hard in preseason; we worked really rigorously to get tougher," said Mino. "We fight through everything; we do it as a team. We do get mentally tough; that's one of our strengths."
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