James Caicedo knew of Bishop Ford’s reputation well before he first entered the Park Slope school.
“Bishop Ford is not known for its soccer that much,” Caicedo said. “I want to make it known for its soccer.”
That’s part of the pact made by longtime teammates Caicedo, Oscar Castillo and Angel Cordero when they were looking into where to play high school soccer.
“Me, Angel and Oscar have been playing together for a while now,” he said. “We all came to the same school to win a championship and we really want to do it this year.”
That’s never been done in Bishop Ford’s young history – the soccer program is just eight years old – but the Falcons have a legitimate chance this season. A 2-0 win against Christ the King Wednesday afternoon at Brennan Field has all but wrapped up the CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens ‘B’ division for undefeated Ford.
“I remind them that they’re in first place and are a first-place team, but they’re a young team so I don’t want them to choke,” Bishop Ford coach Barney Cassidy said. “We’re taking it game by game, but I think we’re in the hunt.”
A year ago a senior-laden Bishop Ford advanced to the CHSAA Class B intersectional semifinals before falling to eventual champion Salesian. This season there is a belief the Falcons can go even further and the combination of Caicedo and Castillo is a big reason why.
“It comes down to those two players,” Christ the King coach Ovid Cusu said. “They actually had two chances the whole game and both chances [were] goals. James and Oscar, they don’t miss chances.”
On Wednesday, Castillo scored the lone goal Bishop Ford (6-0-1 CHSAA Brooklyn/Queens ‘B’) would need in the 36th minute. Cordero, a massive center midfielder who Cassidy said is actually the best goalkeeper on the team, powerfully won a header and directed it toward Castillo. The speedy Castillo capitalized on a Christ the King defensive mistake, snuck inside the 18-yard box and tapped the ball past CK goalkeeper Anthony Ciorciari.
“He’s a big man,” Castillo said of Cordero. “He’s tall and he gets a lot of balls in the air and he’s a good weapon for us.”
Christ the King (4-3-0) had two chances to equalize before the half, but Calogero Curcur, one of six freshmen on the squad, blasted a 22-yard free kick off the crossbar and then his turning shot inside the box was pushed away by Luis Castillo, Oscar’s brother.
“Let’s say we tie them 1-1, we stick to our plan,” Cusu said. “We had a plan to double Oscar, to double James when he comes up. But then second half we had to change that, which cost us the second goal.”
Indeed, two minutes after Anthony Pipitone just missed the net with a long distance attempt, Caicedo put the game away, taking the ball off Christ the King’s Sal Russo and putting it in off the far post two minutes from full time.
“I have a scrappy team,” Cassidy said. “I’ve got some guys with real talent like Oscar and James and Angel. They’re strong and talented.”
And undefeated, which is something Castillo believes Ford can maintain with three games remaining in the regular season.
“There’s always pressure, but I think we can do it,” Castillo said. “We’ve got the players to do it and we’re going to do it.”