NEW: Hydra Prepare for Brutal Stretch of Road Games

Friday, June 01, 2012

Joe Parello, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Hydra goalkeeper Jose Silva was fantastic in his first appearance last week.

Worcester's new soccer club, Hyrda FC, hits the road this weekend to begin the most grueling stretch of its inaugural season.

The Hydra (2-1-1) will play three games over the next five days, including back-to-back road games this weekend. Saturday, the Hydra travel to Ludlow to face the Western Mass Pioneers (1-2-1) at 7:30 pm at Lusitano Stadium, followed by a Sunday night game against the Portland Phoenix (1-0-1) at 6 pm at Cape Elizabeth High School.

Coach Elvis Comrie says he fully understands the significance of the Hydra's next month of play.

"The eight games over the course of the month, over the course of June, are going to make or break us," Comrie said. "It'll be a question of how the players respond after a game. Can they play back-to-back, can they affectively play back-to-back? I don't have any doubt with these players and the squad we have."

If the Hydra are going to be successful over the next month, they will need someone to step up offensively other than leading scorer Alencar Junior. While leading the Hydra with eight points in only four games, Junior has earned a spot on the PDL Team of the Week twice this season. Now, Comrie is looking for another player to show Junior's aggressiveness on the offensive end.

"To be a goal-scorer, it takes a certain mindset," Comrie said. "You have to have a degree of selfishness, and that's not in a bad way- not being afraid to take chances, not being afraid to shoot."

The Hydra are coming off a 1-0 win over Western Mass, a game that saw the Hydra get outshot by the Pioneers 8-3. Still, Worcester was able to ride a sensational performance by goalkeeper Jose Silva to victory. In his first action of the season, Silva stopped every shot he faced, and earned a spot on the PDL Team of the Week.

Outside of Silva, the rest of the Hydra defense has also played very well this season. Worcester has given up just two goals in four games, good for best in the division. Comrie is a defensive minded coach and, though he wants to be more aggressive offensively, he still preaches the fundamentals of defense to his team.

"It's very important that each player understands the principles of how to defend by containing and being patient," Comrie said. "We try to be organized as far as putting pressure on the ball, taking away the forward pass, providing coverage, and it's important for players to communicate as a team so we establish a form of organization throughout the game."