Christ The King Loses Tight One To Division-Leading Bishop Ford

Christ the King Regional High School Men’s Soccer Coach Ovid Cusu. It appeared as if Bishop Ford and Christ the King were going to hold each other scoreless during the first half of play at Juniper Valley Park last Wednesday, Oct. 14.

However, forward Oscar Castillo scored the lone goal in the first half for Bishop Ford assisted by Cordero, a massive center midfielder who powerfully won a header and directed the ball toward Castillo. The speedy Castillo capitalized on a Christ the King defensive mistake, snuck inside the 18-yard box and tapped the ball past CK goalkeeper Anthony Ciorciari.

“He’s a big man,” Castillo said of Cordero. “He’s tall and he gets a lot of balls in the air and he’s a good weapon for us.”

A 2-0 win against Christ the King Wednesday afternoon at Brennan Field has all but wrapped up the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens ‘B’ division for undefeated Ford, and left the young Royals in the run for second place.

The loss proved costly for the Royals. CK entered the match hot on the Falcons’ heels, looking to narrow the gap in the division.

Although CK’s future seems bright with 12 capable underclassmen, it will most probably have to kiss any shot of a division title goodbye.

“The first place is gone,” CK coach Ovid Cusu said. “We’re fighting for second.”

Christ the King (4-3-0) had two chances to equalize before the half, but Calogero Curcur, one of six freshmen on the squad, blasted a 22- yard free kick off the crossbar and then his turning shot inside the box was pushed away by Ford’s defense.

CK had its chances in the second half, but Falcons goalkeeper Luis Castillo made a couple of solid saves. Two minutes after Anthony Pipitone just missed the net with a long distance attempt, James Caicedo put the game away, taking the ball off Christ the King’s Sal Russo and putting it in off the far post two minutes from full time.

“Let’s say we tie them 1-1, we stick to our plan,” Cusu said. “We had a plan to double Oscar, to double James when he comes up. But then second half we had to change that, which cost us the second goal. It comes down to those two players. They actually had two chances the whole game and both chances were goals. James and Oscar, they don’t miss chances.”

Falcons coach Barney Cassidy was impressed with the way Cordero, his midfielder, manufactured the goal in the first half.

“He’s probably one of the best goalies you’ll ever see, but I can’t use him there,” Cassidy said. “He’s too strong on the field. He’s a good quarterback in the middle. He really runs the field.”