East Aurora too much for Bartlett

Updated: September 13, 2011 9:36PM

East Aurora’s depth and Bartlett’s injury troubles were both on display Tuesday night as the host Tomcats cruised to a 5-2 victory.

Five different players scored and three others tallied assists as East Aurora used its entire roster to improve to 6-2-1 overall and begin defense of its Upstate Eight Valley championship. The Hawks had saw their overall ledger evened at 3-3-1 while the Valley Division record dipped to 0-2.

Bartlett had some of the best early chances as Tomcats starting keeper Osvaldo Mata tipped or punched away a couple shots before the East Aurora offense got going. Danny Miranda got things started when he used Juan Bustamante’s assist for a five-yard finish inside the right post.

“It’s always important to set the tone early and it gets the juices flowing once we get the first one in,” Miranda said. “Once we get in rhythm, we know we can score.”

That’s exactly what the Tomcats did as they got three more goals in a seven-minute span. Angel Barajas’ corner kick curved in for an unassisted strike with 8:33 left before intermission. Abraham Kanneh worked his way through the Bartlett defense to force in a three-yarder near the left post. Angel Diaz’ pass helped Franky Ortiz knock in a three-yarder.

“I was just trying to center the ball as best as possible and I knew Franky was coming in for the finish,” Diaz said. “This is the first step for us in defending our conference title, which is just one of our goals for this season.”

For Bartlett, Anthony DiNuzzo’s determination was on display throughout the half but especially on his 16-yard right wing shot that sailed into the upper left corner with 27 seconds remaining in the half.

“Every time I can find the back post I try to take that opportunity,” DiNuzzo said.

East Aurora’s Eddie Gaytan used a Luis Reyna pass for a four-yard strike by the right post to put the Tomcats comfortably up 5-1. Bartlett’s Ramiro Arroyo nailed a 12-yarder from the right side for the Hawks with 16:16 left to be played.

“Being down three starters we were asking more of several players than we’ve ever asked and they’re responding.” Bartlett coach Ben Beary said. “We played better as the game went on and I still believe you take away a couple early mistakes and give us another 10 minutes, it’s a different game.”

East Aurora coach Jason Rollins was equally convinced his squad was capable of more.

“I thought we controlled the game, I have our managers keep track of complete passes and we had over 300, so I thought we dictated play and had many chances, hitting the post twice and missing some others.”

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