TOPSoccer

Another super week with outstanding weather and enthusiasm. The energy of the junior players still needs to be harnessed but the exuberance is everywhere. Constantine Lascarides, Sideri Doulis and Jacob Csillag bring unbridled energy each week. The skills are starting to come around and the games have been very entertaining. The senior game had its fair share of potent offense. The players were pitted against the adults and the game was really no contest, as the seniors ran away with a 7-3 win. Andrew Abberton proved you don't have to shoot rockets to score, as he converted two loose balls in front of the net into easy tap-in goals. Andrew added one more, along with two from Patrick Williams and one each from Stefani Egre and Devin Burgess. Sebastian Garcia made some unbelievable saves in goals to seal the victory.

-Richard Bletsch

U11

Lady Leopards Jericho Force - Jericho played a strong game against New Hyde Park, and it appeared a shut-out was imminent. But Kaitlin Shea had other ideas. She had an unassisted goal from near the net late in the second half to put the Lady Leopards on the board. Not satisfied with the one goal, she came back to score a second time with a blasting kick. Having two goals to celebrate, the team gathered momentum, but the final whistle blew before they could accumulate any more points. Dylan Livers, who played both offense and defense, made outstanding passes from everywhere throughout the game. Striker Danielle Michaels had several strong shots on goal. Defender Eve Rigas intercepted breakaways as she charged down the field. Rebecca Lewis, Taylor Ross, and Caroline Weinberg got a taste of every position - offense, midfield, and defense - at different points in the game. Atonella Cotilletta, Madison Cascio, and Alana Cohen played primarily midfield. Alana brought her speed to help out on defense as well. Celeste Lyons was goalie, chalking up several saves. A shout-out to the referee who kept a careful eye on the match having made it clear before the start that he would strictly enforce all rules for the safety of the players. He called an excellent game. When the officiating is good, everyone wins!

Girls Travel Division

U10 Lady Tigers 2 vs. Garden City Xtreme 0

April 28

The Lady Tigers started off quickly with a hard shot by Betsy Tanenbaum but the ball was caught by the goalie. The Lady Tigers started off with great passing from Betsy to Julie Kennedy and Jasmine Bustos, keeping the ball near the Xtreme's goal. Erin Rivera and Martha Keller had beautiful midfield blocks and precise passing to Jasmine, Sabrina Posadas and Gianna Ferrante. Jennifer Louie played well on both sides of the field. Betsy Tanenbaum continued to play extremely hard and scored the first goal from a corner kick that went into the goal after deflecting off the goalie's shoulder. Keeley McGrath was well positioned and had a couple of quick breakaways that were blocked. The Xtreme had a few quick breakaway attempts that were all blocked by Lisa Pellegrino. Lisa continued to show her outstanding control in blocking and catching the ball from all angles.

On defense, Erin Rivera, Bridgette Stacom, Laila Chadli played closer to the midfield and kept the pressure on by keeping the ball in the Xtreme's side of the field. Both teams played extremely well and had many goal attempts that were blocked or caught by the goalies of both teams. Julie controlled the ball beautifully and passed it to Gianna who then passed it to Betsy to score the second goal after running almost half the field on a quick breakaway. Even though the Lady Tigers were ahead by 2 goals, they kept the pressure on. Laila playing a strong defensive also passed the ball quickly to Betsy for two more quick attempts that were deflected by the goalie. It was a strong overall game by Betsy. Good game girls.

Bonnet Division

U-9

April 29th

Princesses 1 Kickin Kittens 1 - The Princesses had their hands full with the ferocious Kittens this past weekend. Both teams played their hearts out and left everything on the field in this thrilling 1-1 tie. All of the girls are really showing improvement as the hard work of the players begins to pay off. The teamwork and sportsmanship of the girls has really been infectious.

Princesses got on the score board first with Daniella converting a hard shot after receiving a pretty crossing pass from Keri. Although that would be the lone Princess goal it was not the only quality scoring chance. Ashley nearly scored her second goal in two games but the ball went just wide of the net. Tara gets closer and closer each week to scoring her first goal,with her continued hard work it won't be long before she converts one. Lauren has really fit right in with the Princesses playing both offense and defensive with high quality. Kayla controlled the ball well in the field and gets more agressive each game. Nicki split the game playing offense and defense using good balll skills to control the ball. The defense has been a strength of the Princesses all season and this week was no exception. Jessica continues to dominant the defensive zone,rarely making a mistake and knowing when to advance the ball into the offensive zone. McKenzie has really blossomed this season, challenging the advancing opponents and reversing the ball back into the offensive zone. Brittany has also been an anchor of the defense,very steady and knowledgeable in defense of her goal. The stars of the day for the Princesses were the goalies. Krista and Catherine split the game and both were terrific. Each goalie made some outstanding saves on shots from point blank range. Krista made her best save midway thru the first half. Catherine had the play of day in the final minutes of the game stopping a rocket off the foot a Kitten attacker. It was a great contest and congratulations to all the Kittens and their coach Juan on a fantastic game. Great game by the Princesses , continue your hard work and keep having fun! Just a reminder to all parents interested in travel soccer for the U-9 girls next fall. There will be a parents information meeting on Tues May 8 at the Knights of Columbus on Marcus Ave. Ask your coach for more information.

Kickin' Kittens v. Princesses - In only the third game of the season the Kittens are beginning to play real soccer. With all the girls demonstrating that their hard work is paying off. The defense was outstanding against the formidable Princesses. Isabel Ryan anchored the defensive end like a seasoned pro. Bianca Gadze seemed to be able to cover the entire field with her speed. Gabrielle Berger played her best game of the season protecting her side with determination and good positioning. Jackie Castaldi quarterbacked the offense with timely passes and aggressive drives to the goal. Sarahelena Barrios helped to balance the offense with crisp passing and good ball control. Catherine "Kitty" Saketos was fierce playing the wing and winning many balls for the team. Eva Chan's excellent ball control and dangerous drives into the Princesses defensive end created many opportunities for the Kittens. Samantha Zebitsch showed great resolve and made some tough defensive plays. Ashley Vicente split goal tending duties with Samantha and both gave their teammates another solid performance. Ashley also is showing great composure and improved skill on the field. Skyler Woo gave a strong effort on offense and she was rewarded by scoring the game tying goal. It was her first career goal, once again proving how the girls' hard work is paying dividends. Way to go Skyler! We missed Iris Fan, Sage Rosenthal and Amanda Zeitlin. The fans were treated to very competitive and well played game. Congratulations to both teams and remember... keep on Kickin' Kittens!

U-8

Cheetah Girls played an exciting game. We were down 2-0 in the first half and Hannah Arkin came through with cross in front of the net for Isabella Schaetzie's shot into the net. Hannah Arkin later tied the game with high blast over the goalies head. Caitlin Cosme was a brick wall at center defense with Jillian Minda backing her up. Natalie Kariotis took a few falls before a shot off dribbling down field. Samantha Merino did a super job marking their best player. Jules Wesler made some great passes at midfield. Mariella Facibene and Kimberly Keblish were fantastic in goal.

Cabbage Patch Division

G-Bears: Practice this Friday at 5:30 p.m. at the Water District. No Practice on Monday. I will be out-of-town.

Game Summary: G-Bears v Bratz - Girls U7

In a showdown of 2 Super Teams, the Grizzly Bears and Bratz squared off on April 29. It was a battle of the defenses as both teams played tenaciously, refusing to give either side any easy chances. I was going to take some shining efforts to score today. The G-Bears used good positioning and crisp passing to set up their chances. The attack was led by Jackie Diffley, Sophia Leeds and Kaitlyn Krems. About 10 minutes into the game. Kaitlyn made a beautiful killer pass to split the D and hook up with Jackie who used her speed to race in on goal and rocket one home for our lone goal of the match. Jackie ran hard all day and made 2-3 very nice crosses in front of goal. In the second half, she hooked up with Kaitlyn who fought hard near center of goal, muscled her way far post right and nearly put away a very nice slide shot that just went wide. Sophia had her best chances in the second half too, made some great runs on goal, but just could not beat her last defender to break away and put one on goal. Alyssa Macher also attacked the goal nicely, snuck in from the right side and just missed wide of goal. Bethany Ambrosio, a rookie, really is showing some good instincts out there, mixing it up on D and attacking well with the ball out of midfield. Nice game, Bethany! Kathleen Toscano and the speedy Hannah Varghese rushed the goal effectively, had some good chances from midfield, but were stymied my the tough Bratz D. The G-Bear D really shined today - and was led by Erica Lorenzana in the middle, who broke up countless Bratz-attackz by stepping up and coming away with the ball. Same deal on the left side, where Edna Dudek aggressively went after the ball and successfully poked away several rushes on goal. Kaitie Meegan really showed her stuff on the right side - not just breaking up attacks, but then using her blazing speed to go on the attack - and she just missed scoring a goal carrying the ball all the way from defense. Mackenzie Griffin was equally tough on D and also at midfield and let nothing/no-one get by her all game long. In goal, Edna Dudek was perfect in the first half with 3 saves, Kristin Granieri let in a goal but made 4 saves, and Sophia Leeds took her turn but had no chances. It was a super game by both teams, very exciting to watch, and really showcased how well ALL the U7 girls have come in improving their game play. Great playing G-Bears - we are all very proud of each and every one of you!! Keep up the good work! Coach Kevin

Bratz - The Bratz hit the field eager to train hard and play some serious soccer. The girls worked hard all afternoon on learning to pass and move the ball effectively. Once their training ended the team moved on to their favorite part of the day; the game! The Bratz did not disappoint the crowd and put on a great display of smart passes and well timed shots. The girls worked hard all game long and when the final whistle blew the only thing the girls wanted was to keep playing! The Bratz were powered by Emma Aquino, Olivia Baez, Kira Crehan, Marissa Cronin, Marcela Curcio, Camryn Dluginski, Camryn Finkel, Deirdre Lynch, Emma Quinn and Sarah Reigrod. We missed you this week Victoria. As usual I am proud of all my soccer Bratz.

April 29

Kitty Kats vs. Lady Bugs - On a cloudy and a bit brisk afternoon, the Kitty Kats came out strong. Lauren Vowinkel, Cayla Mikowski, Caroline Nuttall, and Julia Feldman used their passing skills to constantly keep the ball moving toward the goal. Gabriella Caicedo, Kaitlyn Louie and Stephanie Zovich played great defense. Keep up those power kicks girls! Daphne Siozios protected the net in first half and Andrea Waldron defended the goal the second. Both girls saved too many balls to count. Congratulations to both teams. We missed Naomi Diaz and hope she feels better soon.

Boys Division

April 28

Boys U11 Travel

Stray Cats 5 - Merrick Mavericks 2

The Stray Cats continued their great start with a victory over a much-improved squad from Merrick. With goals from Bryan O'Neill (2), Alex Spinoccia, and Billy Stevens, the Stray Cats played a nearly flawless first half leading 4-0 at the break. Steven Cacchioli closed out the scoring with a left-footed goal in the second half. Matthew Huhn, Chris Ferlazzo, Austin Ward, Ciaran Stack and Gerard Farrell provided constant pressure and great ball movement leading to many scoring opportunities. Tyler Carrick, Stephen Eranovic, Cian Fitzgerald and Ryan Korzevinsky played great on the defensive end along with goalie Andrew Blumenson who stopped everything within reach. Keep up the great work.

Jaguars 4 - Port Washington Falcons

The offensive trio of Steven Lin, Brendan Deery and Chris Sacino came on strong in the first half . Chris S. blasted the first goal in the Falcon net despite the efforts of the goalie. Strong offense was also demonstrated by Anthony DiMarco and Michael Zornberg. Port Washington played tough but were stopped by some outstanding defense by Brian Ambadjes, Andrew Curcio and Anthony Cacchioli. Goalie Daniel Flori also made a total of 7great saves. Early in the second half Chris S. fired his second goal into the net creating a 2-0 lead. Mid fielders Sean Ryan, Chris Pun and Peter Keenan held the Falcons back and moved the ball well. Chris Pun made an awesome punt just past midfield to score the third goal of the game. Andrew Curcio and Brendan Deery are also credited with shots on goal. With only minutes to play, Andrew made a great pass to Sean Ryan who fired the ball into the net giving the Jaguars a 4-0 win! Great team work boys.

Boys U9

Mighty Titans vs. Galaxy

Great day for soccer that was led by Nick Nikos, John Paul Sanchez and Michael Orlick on the offensive side. This trio of boys did a great job of moving the ball down the field and putting constant pressure on the opposing team. Numerous shots that just missed the net but they kept shooting. Great job boys. T.J. Goutas did a fantastic job in goal in the first half saving many shots and in the second half showed super speed and great ball handling. Peter Restivo and Matt O Connor really stepped up on the defensive side stopping the opposing team from getting to the net. Shane Gunning has made dramatic improvements from week to week. His speed is unmatched and working so hard on his ball handling. He is a pleasure to watch. Now for Vincent Murphy, in the first half he scored our goal and in the second half as goalie made five of the most amazing saves I have ever witnessed at this age level. Final score was 1-0 But this was one heck of a game that could have went either way. Galaxy boys should be very proud of themselves.We really missed John Hanna and Dennis Mozvov. See you next week boys.

Boys U8

Fire vs. X-Treme

Super match today by team Fire against a very strong Xtreme team. Brian Saramago opened the scoring for the Fire but the Xtreme came right back to tie the score. With help from midfielders Nick Reda, Alan Chen and Anthony DePompeis, Brian was able to notch his second goal of the game. Once again the Xtreme came back to tie the game. Brian notched his hat trick off a nice pass from Jack Nutall. Christian Carrick finished the scoring on a beautiful breakaway goal. The defense of Justin Carnero, Ricky Marchelos and Anthony Indovino was awesome. These boys hustled and won a ton of balls all game long. Another superb effort in goal by Jonathan Ang. Go Fire!