East Aurora blanks Oswego

Updated: September 24, 2011 6:58PM

Slowly but surely, East Aurora is starting to amass a victory total that is hard to ignore. The latest win was Saturday's 2-0 home triumph over Oswego.

The Tomcats have some of their toughest opposition ahead of them, but it's going to be hard to sneak up on anyone sporting an 11-1-2 record. East Aurora coach Jason Rollins told his team at halftime that a strong start was crucial and the scoreless draw ended 7:30 into the second half when Abraham Kanneh's cross was knocked home from six yards out by Juan Bustamante.

"I got into space for the cross and when it came, I just focused on aiming it into the net," Bustamante said of his fourth goal this year. "It feels real good to get the win because we know so many of their guys, and friends like to give each other grief."

East Aurora added to the lead with 27:59 still to be played when Eddie Gaytan set up Kanneh for a 13-yard strike from the left side.

"Where Eddie had the ball, I knew I had to make a run and he'd deliver, so I got it and just put it in the net," said Kanneh, who tallied his sixth goal and seventh assist for the year. "Winning is most important, but getting a goal and an assist is icing on the cake.

It feels real good to be 11-1-2."

As was the case throughout the match, Oswego seemed to be just a second late or so many inches from the kind of touch that would've put the Panthers (4-6-1) on the scoreboard.

"We're that much closer to finding the right combinations and the players are starting to get comfortable in their new roles," Oswego coach Travis Carlisle said. "We've got a lot of positives to build on, especially in focusing on the conference."

The Panthers will put a 3-0-0 Southwest Prairie Conference mark on the line Tuesday when they host rival Oswego East. East Aurora is hoping to go 3-0-0 in the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division on Tuesday when its hosts tradition-rich Waubonsie Valley.

"We've definitely got some talent, so the key is to find out each game what works for us and make the right adjustments," Rollins said. "Juan Luis (Perez) was all over the field for us today, but he's always the type of player I can put anywhere we need him."

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