The beat goes on for the Greenwich High School varsity boys soccer team.

Halfway through the season, only one team in the FCIAC is undefeated and that squad of course, is the Greenwich, which has beaten every team in the conference for the past year-and-a-half.

Defending FCIAC champion Greenwich, winners of its first seven games, put its undefeated record on the line when FCIAC rival Danbury visited Cardinal Stadium on Sept. 24th and playing one of its most complete matches of the season, the hosts kept their perfect season intact.

On the strength of two goals from senior midfielder/captain Manuel Bonilla, Greenwich recorded an impressive 2-0 win over visiting Danbury, raising its record to 8-0. The 2024 season saw the Cardinals register a record of 18-1-3 and capture the FCIAC Tournament championship. The Cardinals’ lone loss was to Farmington in the semifinal-round of the CIAC Class LL Tournament.

Despite the fact that graduation claimed more than 20 seniors from last season’s championship squad, the beat has indeed, gone on for Greenwich, which continues to beat its foes to the ball and ultimately, on the scoreboard, with todays’ matchup being the latest example.

“It was an all-around solid performance,” said Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam, who has guided the Cards to several FCIAC tournament titles, along with the 2022 CIAC Class LL state championship. “The whole team’s work ethic comes out. We chased the ball down in numbers and what I like is when we have the ball, we are always looking to be very positive. We create really good situations.”

“Against a good team we try to set a standard in terms of how we collectively play as a unit,” Putnam continued. I think that was a whole team performance both offensively, the way we attacked as a team. The way we defended – headers, the way we tackled, we got players around the ball. And the way we attacked, we attacked with a purpose.”

When the Cardinals and Hatters faced each other last fall in Danbury, they dueled to a draw, so Greenwich knew it was in for a challenge today at Cardinal Stadium and they were primed for it.

“Beating Danbury really motivates the team,” Bonilla said. “This time of the season last year, we actually tied the game in Danbury and that sort of made us go downhill from our undefeated streak. But we’re still going and it’s going to motivate us to keep that zero at the end of our record. Overall, it will boost us to keep going and keep pushing forward to win.”

Greenwich captured the momentum from practically the outset and kept it, utilizing excellent ball movement, terrific teamwork and aggressive play throughout in all areas of the field against the Hatters, who always give the Cardinals a challenge. Prior to playing to a draw one season ago, Greenwich edged Danbury in the 2023 regular season, 2-1 and also topped the Hatters, 2-1, in the FCIAC Tournament quarterfinals.

“Danbury is a great team, they are always one of the top teams in the conference,” said Greenwich senior captain Henry Davis, who helped anchor Greenwich’s defensive effort. “I thought that we played fantastically today. We showed it throughout the first eight games, we’ve been showing what we can do. Every game we’re playing well as a team and we’re in great form right now.”

Danbury is also in the midst of a stellar season. The Hatters are 5-2-1 overall following today’s defeat at the hands of the Cardinals. Hatters coach Manny Catarino left the game knowing his team mustered the best effort they could against one of their conference rivals.

“We played strong, but we know that Greenwich is a very tough team, that’s why they’re the best in the league,” Catarino said. “We gave them a game, but unfortunately, they were better than us today.”

Said Davis: “Danbury is a fantastic team, they always give us a good challenge every year. They gave us a challenge last season. They’re a physical team, they’re aggressive, they play with passion, but they had to come to us this year. We had the fans behind us, we got to play in our great stadium. We played better today and we got the result.”

The Cardinals enjoyed a significant possession advantage behind the relentless attacking play of forwards Alexander Amato, Joseph Carroll, Luca Ferrario, Bonilla from his midfield position and Francisco Luzuriaga and a host of other athletes. Greenwich kept Danbury junior goalie John Salinas busy. Despite Greenwich having possession in their end throughout, Salinas kept it a 2-0 game by making 19 saves on shots coming at him from all angles.

“I think we did amazing, I think we possessed most of the time,” Luzuriaga said. “We got a lot of good shots, their keeper made a lot of saves. It’s important that when you see a chance just take a shot, you never know – a deflection, a rebound can go in. Kurt’s been telling us to do that and we’ve been doing a good job of that as well.”

Greenwich scored the only goal it needed in the fourth minute, with Bonilla tallying off assists from Ferrario, a junior and Carroll, a sophomore, putting the home team on top, 1-0.

“Luca Ferrario got the ball at the edge of the 18, he had it on his right foot, he hit it in and I saw the ball coming and I just hit it first time and I knew the goal was right there,” Bonilla said. “It was a rebound and I just smashed it in.”

Amato, a standout senior, moved the ball to the right side to Carroll, who was sprinting at full speed. Carroll was fouled in the box, so GHS was awarded a penalty kick. Bonilla the ensuing penalty kick and converted it, booting his shot inside the left post, giving the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the 51st minute.

“I took deep breaths so I can make sure I was relaxed and composed,” Bonilla said of his penalty kick opportunity. “I know my spot and just hit it.”

Greenwich continued to generate scoring chances during the second half, while threatening to extend its lead. Amato tested Salinas with shots on goals several times, the Cardinals almost tallied off a corner kick, junior Ebrima Touray nearly scored off a pass from Amato and Amato hit the crossbar with a shot from approximately 10 yards out.

The shutout was the fifth for Greenwich in its first eight games. The Cards have outscored the opposition, 38-5, thus far this season. Junior Oliver Almeida earned another shutout win in goal for the Cardinals.

“I didn’t really expect us to be where we are now, especially after the season we had last year,” Davis noted. “It’s really hard to top it and match it, but I think we’re doing better than we did last year and we can keep going.”

Greenwich hopes to raise its record to 9-0 when it visits FCIAC foe Darien on Sept. 26.

“It was a really important win, now we’re 8-0, we keep building up and I’m very proud of us for putting the work in every single time,” Luzuriaga said. “I think our mentality from the start was key. We knew this was going to be a tough opponent and we matched them up. Our aggressiveness was the cherry on top.”

“What I liked the most was how cohesive all the units were,” Putnam said. “The back four were absolutely rock solid, the two 6s played fantastic. We attacked in numbers, we attacked with a purpose.”