The 2024 season was indeed, one to remember and cherish for Greenwich High School’s varsity boys soccer team.

The Cardinals registered an outstanding record of 18-1-3, won the FCIAC Tournament championship, the FCIAC West Division title and advanced all the way to the semifinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

Now, the Cardinals seemed primed to create more memorable moments and add to their collection of championships.

Four games into their 2025 season, Greenwich has picked up right where it left off last fall. Through four matchups, the Cardinals sport a record of 4-0, having outscored the opposition, 18-1, in the process. After posting shutout wins against Fairfield Ludlowe and St. Joseph, Greenwich rolled to a 5-1 victory over Wilton at Cardinal Stadium on Sept. 8, then powered past Bridgeport Central, 8-0, at home, on Sept. 10. In their 5-1 triumph versus Wilton, senior Alexander Amato scored two goals, while seniors Henry Davis, Francisco Luzuriaga and junior Diego Cordero added one goal apiece.

“It was great, we saw what the team could do,” Luzuriaga, one of the Cardinals’ captains said of the team’s performance in their home-opening win over Wilton. “Our team chemistry is slowly building up.”

Greenwich veteran coach Kurt Putnam, who has built a highly successful, championship soccer program at Greenwich High School, liked what he saw from his squad throughout their match against FCIAC foe Wilton and in their previous games.

“We played with a lot of purpose,” Putnam said. “It was a continuation of last year. We created a lot of great situations and got ourselves into position to score more goals.”

The 2024 season saw the Cardinals begin their season with six straight wins, four of which were by shutout, defeating Fairfield Ludlowe, St. Joseph, Wilton, Bridgeport Central, Staples and Trumbull. The six consecutive victories were followed by three straight ties, as the Cardinals dueled to draws against Danbury, Darien and Stamford. The Cards then reeled off 12 wins in a row, before losing to seventh-seeded Farmington in the Class LL Tournament semifinals at Newtown High School in Sandy Hook.

Greenwich captured the 2024 FCIAC Tournament championship by edging Stamford, 1-0, in the title game, giving the program its first conference tourney title since 2017. Captaining the Cardinals’ strong team this season are seniors Manuel Bonilla, Henry Davis, Francisco Luzuriaga and James Whiteside.

“It’s such a privilege to be a captain,” said Whiteside, a defensive midfielder, who has been active and effective in all of the Cards’ games. “I think it’s a great privilege to be lead this team and it should be exciting for the upcoming season.”

Greenwich scored 68 goals last season and is well on its way amassing plenty of tallies this fall, having totaled 18 in just four games. In the Cardinals’ triumph against Wilton, Luzuriaga took a free kick following a Warriors foul and buried it into the right corner of the goal from approximately 30 yards out, giving GHS a 1-0 lead early in the first half.

“I’m really excited, I love the high school season,” said Luzuriaga, a forward. “We’re friends, we’re slowly building chemistry, we’re bonding together and I think this team can go on to do special things.”

Davis put the Cardinals on top, 2-0, converting a penalty kick after being fouled in the box with 7:17 remaining in the opening half.

“I’ve never taken a penalty before, that was my first penalty for this team,” Davis said. “In that moment, you just have to remain calm and focus on the task ahead. Just clear your mind, pick your spot and put it there.”

Ahead 2-0, GHS extended its advantage at the 28:21 mark of the second half. Junior Diego Cordero impressively finished off a play in transition, making it 3-0 in favor of the host Cardinals. Amato gave Greenwich a comfortable 4-0 lead when he scored off a pass from Luzuriaga with 22:33 left to play in the second half.

“I saw the defender, headed it backwards and I knew the keeper was not coming off the line, so I just pressured the center back into a bad touch and once I had the ball I knew he was going to have to pick a spot to defend, so I faked a shot to the right and took it on my left,” Amato said of his goal. “The finish was better than I could have imagined.”

Amato notched his second goal of the game shortly after, padding Greenwich’s lead to 5-0 with 20:37 still left in the second half. Cordero assisted on the goal, which also came in transition, as the Cards quickly moved the ball up the field.

“The second goal, I got the ball and the defender gave me space to turn,” Amato described. “While I was driving, I saw Diego Cordero to the right. He was wide open, he got it back to me and I put it away.”

Throughout their first four games, the Cardinals have exhibited standout togetherness and teamwork in all areas of the field.

“I think all the boys have formed a team and bond, so that gives us the ability to win games,” said Bonilla, who helps pace the team in the midfield, along with Whiteside and senior Mattheus Bongiolo. “Overall, we did pretty good, it mirrored what we can really show on the field and how we can play on the field together – how well we can build up,” Bonilla said of the team’s triumph against the Warriors.

The defensive effort has been sensational for the Cardinals, a pattern that figures to continue with the talent and skill they have among their defensive crew.

Senior David Boside, Davis, Jason O’Brien, a senior, Bonilla and Nick Martschenko, also a senior, are among just some of the athletes that have sparked the Cards defensively.

“The defensive line has been amazing, only one goal has been scored on us,” Luzuriaga noted. “I’m very proud of them.”

“The team is defending hard as well. I told our players, our defense starts with the front four players first of all – the backline has been playing really, really well,” said Putnam, whose coaching staff includes longtime assistant Ray Marschall.

Oliver Almeida, a junior, made a diving save in the 44th minute and has been rock solid in goal over the first four matchups. Senior James Buck finished the game in goal for the Cardinals, who visit FCIAC rival New Canaan tonight (Sept. 12) at 6:30 p.m. at Dunning Stadium.

“I’m very excited about the season, I think our ball movement has gotten better every single game and the chances are coming so frequently,” Amato said. “It’s not going to be trouble for our goals.”

The roster indicates that it’s a season of change for GHS, which graduated more than 20 seniors from last season’s successful squad. Yet the Cardinals’ obviously, are on pace to produce similar results.

“Offensively and defensively, I thought we played really well as a team,” Davis noted. “We’re really starting to jell, we have good players and a bunch of new players this year. We lost a lot of seniors prior and we’re just starting to work well together – we’re starting to play really good soccer.”

“We have big goals,” Luzuriaga said. “We’re going to challenge to go for the FCIAC title and we are also going to be challenging for the state title.”

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