The Garden City Tomahawks ( boys U-11 soccer) recently faced the Auburn Thunderbolts in a regular season home game. The Tomahawks set the tenor in the opening minutes of the game when an early attempt on goal by Auburndale was deflected by goalkeeper Robert Stufano. Drew Tice quickly put Auburndale on the defense as he back-kicked the ball down the field to Alex Buck who kept after it and didn't let Auburndale near. Justin Kirchner was there to receive an Auburndale corner kick and get the ball out of danger. With Kirschner then taking several quick throw-ins in succession, Sebastian Gomez and Brian Johnston were there to receive and kept the ball in Tomahawks control. Following substitutions, Dean Gibbons had his turn taking throw-ins. A nice corner kick by Kyle Walsh barely missed the goal.

The Tomahawks demonstrated some excellent passing skills as Walsh intercepted the Auburndale keeper's kick and sent the ball to Gibbons who headed it to Johnston who passed to Gomez. Justin Kirschner was next, passing to Tim Holman who kept the ball away from the Auburndale defenders. Jordan Ramsland then chased down the ball and sent it back to Johnston. As the Tomahawks headed for the goal, the Auburndale goalie was called on a handball. Tomahawk Holman made a super effort as he took the kick, which rebounded off a defender to Alex Buck who made a good attempt on goal. Another Auburndale foul gave Holman another free kick which was deflected and out on Auburndale, giving the throw in to the Tomahawks. Kirschner took it and found James Lindsay who crossed the ball nicely to Gibbons.

Following a series of Tomahawk passes, the ball was intercepted by Auburndale who took a shot on goal which was easily saved by goalie Robert Stufano. Stufano kicked the ball down the field to where Chris Zingalli was waiting; Zingalli passed to Johnston who sent it back to Zingalli who quickly passed to Gibbons. The ball then went to Holman, who sent it down the field to Walsh who passed to Gomez. Another Auburndale foul gave Tomahawk Holman another free kick just short of mid-field. The ball went to Gomez whose shot on goal was only barely saved by the Auburndale keeper. With 2 minutes left in the half, the Tomahawks regained possession. Kirschner took a great kick sending the ball down the field to Dean Gibbons who passed to Brian Johnston. The ball then went to Patrick Raymond who sent the ball to Kyle Walsh who shot for a great attempt on goal. Auburndale briefly gained possession, but Nigel Carpenter didn't give them a chance, booting the ball down the field and out of danger as the half ended with the score 0-0.

In the second half, the Tomahawks continued to play well and were dominating the opposition, beating them to the ball and showing a lot of determination. After about 10 minutes of play, Holman leapt on a poor clearance from Auburndale, controlled the ball well, beat two players and passed across to the other side of the field where Gomez was waiting to hammer the ball home, making the score 1-0 Tomahawks. Despite the good play by the Tomahawks, the opposition was still quite dangerous and the Tomahawks were saved on several occasions by outstanding saves by Robert Stufano who showed great judgment in the decisions he made throughout the game. Dean Gibbons had a super game as an attacking right fullback, and Kirschner made a couple of great defensive saves. Tice continued to play well in the forward position and about 2/3 the way through the second half he won the ball and dribbled down the right hand side of the field, beat one of the defenders and cut toward the goal, and made a hard shot which was deflected by one of the defenders. Lindsay was waiting on the goal line to make sure the ball crossed the line for goal #2.

The Tomahawks did well because they attacked the ball, they attacked the opposition and on many occasions when they did break through there were two or three forwards rushing toward the goal. This was the best game by far for the Tomahawks - a great 2-0 victory.