The Newburgh Free Academy boys’ soccer team lost 10 seniors from last year’s Section 9 Class AA semifinalist team.

Recovering from that is a tough task for any team.

Add little preparation time to the mix and games just 10 days after the team came together for the first time, and it added up to the Goldbacks’ season-opening non-league loss to the Cornwall Dragons on Thursday night at Academy Field.

“We’ve been rushed into the season,” Newburgh coach Matt Iorlano said. “This is the shortest preparation I think I’ve ever had for a varsity soccer game. We still haven’t installed half of what we need to install.”

Johnny Germain got the Dragons on the board early as he rolled a shot passed the diving Andreas Gillmeier in the first half.

In the second half, Connor Zatlukal gave the Dragons a 2-0 lead when his shot from the left side bounced off the right post and then ricocheted into goal, just inside the left post.

“Hats off to Cornwall,” Iorlano said. “They’re a good, physical team and they’re fast. They’ve got some very skilled players and part of our problem was them.”

The Goldbacks got their lone goal a minute later when Fredy Rios fed a pass to Newburgh’s All-American Javier Rodriguez, who took the cross and redirected it into the goal, cutting Cornwall’s lead in half.
Ethan Krakowka added Cornwall’s third goal with 22:30 left.

Coming into the game, the Goldbacks had three days of tryouts, three more days of practice, then a scrimmage at Goshen.

Teams usually scrimmage for the entirety of the second week together.

“We actually scrimmaged with three days of practice,” Iorlano said. “Then we had practice (Tuesday), and (Wednesday) we couldn’t do anything because of the weather. And then we come out today and try to compete with a high-quality team, which we did at times.”

But the Goldbacks have a lot of players that are new to the varsity level as they look to replace those 10 seniors lost to graduation.

The team will be led by Javier Rodriguez, named an All-American over the summer, along with Anthony Rodriguez, Rios, Andrew Pinheiro, Gillmeier, and Javier Ramos.

Iorlano also welcomes key newcomers Mason Fredenburg, Tudor Wolfson, Thomas Koziak and Steven Hernandez.

The Goldbacks, experience is lacking, but the talent is there.

“I figure we’re going to get off to a slow start,” Iorlano said. “I told them we’ve got to get better every game and every day. We’ll be back in here (Friday) to try and improve upon today, but the talent is out there. You’re going to see a different team in about three weeks.”