Girls

U8

Warriors 4, Crushers 1: The Warriors and the Crushers engaged in an energetic and highly entertaining contest, marked by numerous attacks, long breakaways and stellar goalkeeping by both teams. The Crushers lived up to their name and were a relentless force on offense, mounting attack after attack, crushing shot after shot, led by the great passing duo of Peri Meeker and Scarlett Long. The Warriors fought hard to stop the assault and were led by the outstanding goalkeeping of Maggie LaBanca, Maggie Breault, Alexis Woods and Samantha Kuruc, as well as the fine defense and nonstop hustle of Elizabeth Cassetta. The Warriors struck back offensively with two goals from Charlotte Branchflower, a courageous effort and goal from Emma Magazu, and a goal from Katie Stan off a beautiful drive and cross from Maggie LaBanca. The Crushers dug in defensively, and were led by Amanda Stowe who demonstrated fantastic field sense and defensive skills, and Katie Rowan who played strong in goal.

SuperStrikers 2, The Lightning Strikes 2: Kyra Masone and Julia Gerace scored for the SuperStrikers, while Emma Butler generated numerous scoring opportunities. Emi Rosenthal and Gabby Mogollon played terrific defense and Elise Baricelli had a nice all-around game. PJ Salva, Maleeha Ali, Katie Zaniewski and Venesa Bajraliu made solid contributions to the total team effort. The Lightning Strikes trailed 2-0 at halftime but pulled within one on a goal by Olivia Cornett and tied the score with a minute left on a goal by Siena Harper. Anna Romano and Katie Larson pushed the ball on offense for The Lightning Strikes. The strong defense of Michaela Cosgriff, Alyssa Bailey and Carly Decker supported the shut-down goaltending of Kennedy Cope to allow The Lightning Strikes to stay within striking distance.

U10

Weston 4, Newtown Funky Monkeys 3: The noonday sun was none too friendly to the Funky ones this Sunday. After calling in Faith O’Hara and Hanna Daly to bolster a depleted roster, the Monkeys found themselves on the wrong side of a 1-0 score. Rallying the offense on a breakaway, Sage Karp was able to tie the score. Weston marched right back down the field though, and Olivia Cavallero showed her grit as she came up with multiple saves to keep the score tied until an unlucky ball zipped overhead to put Weston back on top. On a quick counter, the Monkeys had some key passing from Faith to Sage and down the middle to an open Aniko Walsh who netted her first goal and tied the game again. In the second half, Holly Ankers headed a sky high ball that got to Sage who was able to get the Monkeys a lead. Weston brought their whole team forward though and was able to even the score again and then in the final five minutes, despite some stellar defensive efforts from Megan O’Rourke, Weston was able to sneak through the game winner. Despite the loss, the Monkeys came off the field tired but knowing they had done their Funky best.

U11

Tolland 3, Dynamites 1: After enduring a late start and the possibility of no game because of incorrect paperwork by the visiting team, the Connecticut Cup game between Tolland and the Newtown Dynamites finally got underway. The visiting team made up for the delay by attacking quickly with Newtown spending most of its time on defense. The Dynamites’ front line had some shots by Kristen Cirone, Lu Hage, Brooke Antous, Katie Sailer, Jenna Lavelle and Lindsay Merrifield, but three breakaways by the Tolland team combined with excellent passing by the visitors resulted in three goals. The Dynamites team stepped it up the second half and the home squad finally scored when Lauren Adams passed to Lu Hage who found the back of the net. Defenders Keeley Kortze, Audrey Benson, Grace Corcoran and Lu Hage and spectacular saves by goalies Rebecca Gavel, Kristen Cirone and Lauren Carrino prevented several more goals.

Ridgefield 1, Dynamites 0: Newtown faced a tough opponent during their Sunday game against Ridgefield. Although Newtown seemed to dominate most of the game, they could not penetrate the Ridgefield defense to score. In the first half, shots on goal came from Jenna Lavelle, Lauren Adams and Kristen Cirrone. Lauren Carrino was in goal. In the second half, shots on goal were made by Carrino, Katie Sailer, Cirrone, Lavelle and Lu Hage. Rebecca Gavel protected the net for the Dynamites during the second half. Newtown battled to the end but a score late in the game by the visiting team resulted in a loss for the Dynamites.

U14

Ninjas 5, Hasta la Vistas 2: The Ninjas beat a hard-working Hasta la Vistas squad 5-2 in a match that featured three lead changes. For the Ninjas, Joanelle Tran scored first on an assist from Megan Cooney and Hanna Bigwarfe netted two goals on through passes from Rachel Tomasino and Haley Taylor. Katerina Ringes scored two unassisted goals, the second of which found the back of the net directly on a skillfully bent corner kick. Jillian Milano and Sarah MacMullan shared goaltending duties in the second half and made several great saves to preserve the win. The la Vistas had goals from Kaitlyn McNichols and Emily Booth and maintained a strong midfield with aggressive play by Pip Gamble, Kiera Veillette and Mary Kate Malin. Jenna Ehnot and Chelsea Piccirillo shared duties in goal for the Hasta La Vistas.

Ninjas 5, American Eagles 0: The Ninjas grounded the American Eagles 5-0 in an exciting game. Katerina Ringes netted a hat trick for the Ninjas and opened the scoring on an expertly struck penalty kick midway through the first half. Ringes’ second and third goals were assisted by Megan Cooney and Sarah Brittin. Joanelle Tran scored 45 seconds into the second half on a blistering shot from 20 yards out that was assisted by Haley Taylor. Taylor followed suit with a goal less than one minute later on assists from Olivia Butler and Jordan Williams. Sarah MacMullan played flawlessly in goal and earned the shutout for her hardworking teammates. For the Eagles, Molly Begg, Caroline Viselli and Izzy Kaiser played nice all-around in the midfield slots, while Sarah Simenson, Calista Giroux and Grace Sholtes did well in defense. Kaysie Fisher played another solid half in goal, deflecting multiple attacks by an aggressive opposing team.

Boys

U8

Cheeseballs 4, Lego Guys 0: The Lego Guys played a hard-fought game against a strong opponent. Brendan Adams, Greg Gargano, Ian Moore and Justin Zemo were excellent as goalies stopping numerous shots on goal. Dillon Geiling, Julian Totir, Angelo Lamanna and Andrew Jacobs provided strong efforts on offense. While Matthew Jacobs and Ian Moore were tough on defense. Overall it was a great team effort with all players showing good passing skills and defensive play. The Cheeseballs had a strong showing against a tough opponent on Sunday afternoon with positional play and passing that was evident in a hard fought win. Leading the scoring was Markus Paltauf with a three-goal hat trick with one coming off a bending corning kick. James Ciaramello added another goal with a great one-time shot in the box. Assisting the goals were Collin Marshall and J.P. O’Leary. Drew Poseno and Calum Edmond solidified the defense and Jeremy Pankow and Ethan Appiah created multiple chances. George Sandercox made some great saves in net.

Sponge Bobs 2, Team One 2: The offense for the Sponge Bobs was led by the strong midfield play Cameron Petrelli and Connor Dullinger; both helping to feed the ball to Tanner Trede who reached the back of the net for two goals. Ben Paley gave an outstanding effort in goal and received a lot of help on defense from Andrew Bazuro, Jack Petersen, Torin Kearney and his brother Ethan Paley.

U12

Titans 6, Fairfield 1: Nicholas Weiland started the game off with a bang when he scored a goal in the first few minutes. William Skrelja’s defensive play, James Barden’s ability to take the ball away, and Michael Greenspan’s speed became a solid brick wall that let almost nothing near the goal throughout the game. Nothing could get past William Skrejla in this game as his strong kicks consistently reversed the ball near Newtown’s goal. Nicholas Weiland had a breakaway that resulted in the team’s second goal. Grant Larson and Aiden O’Leary both aggressively sought the ball as part of a strong offense and Henry Petrillo dribbled through five opposing players and used his fancy footwork to bring the ball closer to the rival team’s goal. Christian Adam hustled to score the third goal with a well-placed kick. Daniel Arneth played well in midfield, while Santiago Forero consistently headed the ball in defense of his goal. JT Lewis had some great saves as goalie, including saving a direct shot on goal off a penalty. John Finnegan scored the fourth and fifth goals by using his uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time, and later finished off the hat-trick with his third. Despite an injury, Erwin Grewal had a good showing and kept the ball moving in the right direction. Thomas Skrelja consistently kicked perfect crosses in front of the opposing team’s goal while his brother William showed his skills in offense with some great attempts at goal. Jack Armstrong had strong defense.

U14

Water Buffaloes 5, Bob Sagets 1: The Water Buffaloes’ hard work on passing and crossing into the center paid off during Saturday’s game when they faced the Bob Sagets on the soccer field. The Buffaloes’ offense controlled the first half, scoring four goals. Kevin Arther scored the lone goal for the Sagets. The Sagets recovered somewhat in the second half, allowing only one more score on goal. Tyler Tread played excellent defense, while Michael Arther had an all-around good game at midfield. Dillon Palumbo led the scoring for the Buffaloes with three goals, while Alex Rusu and Will Ballard scored one apiece.