Girls

U8

Crushers 4, Lightning 0: Naiya Amin had a goal and Elizabeth Teixeira netted three, with one assist from Scarlett Long. The Lighting came close many times, but were stopped by solid Crushers defense from Anna Morosky and Molly Connors. For Lightning, Nicole Fisher was strong on offense, while Maya Renkert and Kristen Reisert played well on defense, and Madison DelPozo and Julia Raiani had another stellar week in goal.

The Lightning Strikes 3, Warriors 2: The Lightning Strikes overcame an early two nil deficit to prevail over the Warriors in a well-played match that displayed skill sets well beyond the age group. The Warriors jumped out quickly in front on goals by Emma Magazu and Olivia Buchler with assists on the goals going to Sophia Bajcer and Alexis Woods, respectively. Outstanding defense of Katie Stan, Katie Jones, and Maggie Breault, combined with solid goal tending of Emily Dunford kept The Lightning Strikes off the scoreboard until late in the second half. Applying unrelenting pressure, The Lightning Strikes broke through late in the game on a goal by Olivia Cornett who was fed on a cross by Becca Filiato. The score was tied on a goal by Becca Filiato on a beautiful pass by Riley Burns. Olivia Cornett put The Lightning Strikes ahead for the win on another cross from Becca Filiato. Michaela Cosgriff, with the support of Alyssa Bailey and Carly Decker led The Lightning Strikes defense in crunch time by not allowing the Warriors to clear their end. The shutdown goaltending of Katie Larson preserved the win for The Lightning Strikes.

SuperStrikers 5, Team Three 0: The Super Strikers were led by the strong first half goaltending by Katelyn Zaniewski and Katie Marcum. The scoring punch was provided by Emma Butler and Julia Gerace with two goals each and Kyra Masone tallied an excellent goal to round out the scoring. Emi Rosenthal delivered an outstanding effort, while Abby Stites was all over the field on defense. PJ Salva played a terrific game and made some excellent passes. Team Three was led by all-around performances from Lindsey Booth, Emily Tressler and Meredith Taylor. Isabella Arguello, Alexandra Ferrara, Julia Kaiser and Christina Vitti put forth an outstanding effort throughout the well-played game. Both teams demonstrated wonderful sportsmanship throughout the contest.

U10

Newtown Funky Monkeys 5, New Canaan Flash 0: It was a funky Sunday at Waveny Park in New Canaan as the Monkeys got off to another quick start as Sage Karp kept up her furious pace this year with yet another hat trick game, all in the first half, off of some nice passes from Aniko Walsh. After Sage’s first blast, the Monkeys never looked back, keeping the ball on New Canaan’s side most of the game. The back line worked solidly as the passing between Holly Ankers and Megan O’Rourke kept any Flashes in the dark. In the second half, Maddie Stites pushed forward out of her normal defensive position and wove her way through New Canaan on several runs, having shots denied repeatedly, but was able to find the back of the net. After recovering from an ankle injury, Simone Paradis took a pass from Sage, who was now the Monkey Goalie, and pushed through an outside right run, leaving the New Canaan defense behind her and leveled off a blast into the corner of the net. Nina Henriques made several pushes downfield on offense and fired off a volley of shots, coming away each time with more determination despite some quick saves from the New Canaan goalie.

U11

Newtown 2, Easton 2: The U11 Dynamites survived a tough offensive presence by visiting Easton, behind strong goaltending by Lauren Carrino and Rebecca Gavel. Easton led early, but Katie Sailer answered with a goal to even the score. Jenna Lavelle almost gave the Dynamites the lead when she kicked a long bomb that was bobbled by their goalie, but it went out of bounds. Easton opened the second half with two strong shots and continued their offensive press, getting another one past the Newtown defense. Within a minute Newtown came back to tie it up with a long kick by Jenna Lavelle. Rebecca Gavel, Brooke Antous and Keeley Kortze made shots to counter Easton’s barrage, but the game ended in a tie.

U12

Fairfield 3, Panthers 0: Panthers met a formidable adversary in the Fairfield team on Sunday. Lauren Russo, Juliette Grover and Audrey Sedensky all had shots on goal in the first half. Greta Staubly and Bryanna Benson both blocked advances by the Fairfield offense. Priya Deraney worked against a dominating offense to control the ball for the Panthers. Kira Kelly connected with Lauren Russo for an attempt on goal. Allie Paynter played an aggressive game, while Dani Otera also attempted a shot on goal. Kaitlyn Reilly showed good speed and passing in her efforts to connect upfield. Diana Kirkman and Bryanna Benson were defensive standouts. Elizabeth Chamiec-Case continued her streak of aggressive offensive play while Maria Ringes never gave up pushing the ball deep into Fairfield territory.

Newington 4, Panthers 3 (State Cup game): The Panthers showed true grit in their first State Cup appearance falling to Newington in a double overtime, penalty kick stunner. Newtown came out strong in the first half. Greta Staubly, Lauren Russo and Maria Ringes each connected with early shots on goal. Elizabeth Chamiec-Case finessed the ball under pressure with the assistance of Dani Otero for additional shots on goal only to be turned away by an impressive Cheetah goalie. Kaitlyn Riley’s speed brought the ball upfield for the Panthers. Kira Kelly minded the goal in the first half throwing herself at every shot with clock-like precision. Audrey Sedensky proved to be a force both on defense and offense. Sedensky challenged full speed Cheetah advances while Diana Kirkman’s intuitive toughness resulted in several stalled efforts for her opponents. Bryanna Benson’s well-placed throw-ins helped control the field, while Priya Deraney turned around the Cheetah offense. Hana Rosenthal used her fast footwork to challenge the Cheetahs and help dominate the ball. Allie Paynter dominated the field with her aggressive play. The Panthers answered a first half goal with several advances in the second half led by Juliette Grover. Grover’s speed and field positioning resulted in several attempts at goal for herself, Sedensky and Staubly. Lauren Russo added a soaring shot. Maria Ringes took it to the next level late in the second half when she faked out the Cheetah goalie landing the ball in the net for a tying goal. A scoreless double Overtime led the teams to a Penalty Kick shoot out. Alex Futterman’s impressive goal tending during regular play was only surpassed by her catlike defense of goal in the shoot out. Sedensky and Staubly connected with classic penalty shots further tying the game at 3-3. In a heart-stopping final moment, Panther’s fell when they were unable to answer a third penalty goal by Newington.

U14

Ninjas 5, American Eagles 0: The Ninjas defeated hardworking American Eagles. The Ninjas were lead by goalscorers Haley Taylor (two), Katerina Ringes, Olivia Butler and Hannah Bigwarfe. Megan Cooney led a cohesive midfield effort with two assists and put constant pressure on the ball, while Sarah Brittin preserved the shutout with her stellar goaltending. For the American Eagles, Greta Capeci and Allie Indellicato played well in the forward slots, while Calista Giroux, and Sarah Simenson moved the ball well in the mid-field positions. Haley McNulty, Morgan Goldstein and Molly Begg helped balance the Eagles defense. Willow Pears and Kaysie Fisher played strong goal, deflecting a tough Ninja attack.

Boys

U8

Cheeseballs 3, Team Nine 1: The Cheeseballs had a good outing with lots of passing and creativity that was rewarded with a hard earned win. Markus Paltauf scored two goals with Owen Reinhart adding another; assisting on the goals were James Ciaramello, Sam Staubly and Owen Reinhart. In the midfield, Drew Poseno was a force in preventing opposing team chances and helping set up offensive plays. In goal, both Ethan Appiah and Jeremy Pankow came up with some great saves.

Black Skulls 2, Lego Guys 2: Constant offensive pressure led to numerous scoring chances for the Black Skulls. Goals were scored by Hayden Miller with help from Zack Majeski and Aidan Hall. Sean O’Sullivan and Nick Gold defended the goal against a strong opponent with multiple saves. Jake Holme & Coop Hider had many close shots on goal. Nate Hoffert, Carter Jasinski and Aaron Trammel ran their legs off chasing down balls in the midfield and defense. For the Lego Guys, Justin Zemo scored both goals with assists and additional near miss goals from Gregory Gargano, Anglelo LaManna and Dylan Geiling. Brendan Adams was great at goal with defensive support from Charlie Sepp and Ian Moore.

SpongeBobs 4, Titans 4: Connor Dullinger had his first career goal to lead the SpongeBobs to a 4-0 win over the relentless Titans. Tanner Trede found the net twice and Jack Petersen finished off the SpongeBobs scoring, while Ben Paley and Andrew Bazuro both played strong midfield games. RJ Figeuroa, Ethan Paley and Jake Mailloux hustled throughout the contest. The Titans played with skill and determination. They hit the goalpost a number of times, stopped many of the other team’s attacks, and all players gave their best effort for the entire game.

U11

Hartford Soccer Club 1, Vipers 0 (State Cup Game): In the first round of the State Cup tournament, the Newtown Vipers fell. The evenly matched teams played a very tight, physical contest that ended in a 0-0 tie at the end of regulation play. The rugged play continued through the first overtime and into the second overtime period when the Vipers nearly broke through on two near misses from Dylan Sock. The tie was broken with only two-minutes left to play in the game when Hartford scored on a breakaway goal. CJ Trivers and the defensive line of Sean Arnold, Danny Schreiber and Jack McDermott held off repeated attacks by the speedy Hartford team.

U12

Newtown Titans 3, Westport 1: In the first half of the game, the defense did a great job keeping the ball away from their goalie, JT Lewis. Wally Skrelja was a brick wall, consistently defended the goal along with Grant Moxham and James Barden. Daniel Arneth kicked the ball long and hard towards Westport’s goal and Michael Greenspan used his speed for a strong aid to the defense. In the second half, Grant Moxam scored the first goal, along with a strong showing from John Finnegan, Nicholas Weiland and Jack Armstrong. Santiago Forero put up a skilled defense with strong reversals. Christian Adam scored the second goal off a brilliant direct kick made by Jack Oltran. After several convincing attempts, Thomas Skrelja scored the third goal in conjunction with a penalty made by the other team. Henry Petrillo had a solid showing and a spectacular header.

Stamford 4, Titans 3: Santiago Forero executed the first goal of the game after a strong attempt by Grant Larson. Jack Oltran and John Finnegan were both consistent with long and strong kicks down the field. Daniel Arneth scored the second goal early in the second half. Thomas Skrelja and Aiden O’Leary were both tough offensive players with strong help by Erwin Grewal, John Finnegan and James Barden. Jack Oltran scored the third goal assisted by Christian Adam. William Skrelja, Jack Armstrong and James Barden all put up a strong defense. Offensive player Henry Petrillo did well filling in for the defense. Michael Greenspan gave a stellar performance as did Nicholas Weiland and Grant Moxham.

U14

Water Buffaloes 8, DWP 3: The Water Buffalo defense was unstoppable when the team met with DWP. The Buffaloes took control of the game in the first half with a goal by Alex Russo. Elliot Bennett of DWP fired a shot over the head of the Buffalo goalie entering his team into the game. Dillon Palumbo ended the half with a goal. In the second half, the Buffalo onslaught continued. DWP goalkeeper, Barrett Young, remained calm and cool under pressure, saving many shots, as the Buffaloes dominated the field. Dillon Palumbo scored two more goals, Lukas Palumbo scored one and Casper scored two. Zach DeMeglio provided support for the Buffalo Strikers with his strong performance at midfield. Toward the end of the second half, DWP staged a comeback. Ben Tuffy in defense helped prevent more Buffalo attempts on goal, while Elliot Bennett scored a second time. Thomas Shriekel sent the ball into the net seconds before the whistle bringing DWP’s score to 3. Despite the uneven score, the good sportsmanship exhibited by both teams was remarkable.