TOPSoccer

Another stellar turnout as the ranks of NHP's TOPSoccer Program continues to grow. Once again we had three games running simultaneously and the action was fast and furious. Our young coaches have stepped up and made huge contributions. The juniors had a spirited match with excellent play by Mike Pellegrino, Charlie Hinz and Andrea Cellucci. The intermediate game had super play by Mary Glass, Julius Sum and Jessica Daly. The seniors had a more structured contest as they matched up against the coaches but it was another lopsided affair with the players easily winning 5-3. Goals were scored by Matt Saraiva (2), Billy Russo, Adam Strominger and Sammy Ho. Back to Center Street next week, then it's off to Rockville Center on May 3rd for the 1st of 2 spring tournaments.

Rich Bletsch, Director

Boys Division

Travel

U12

NHP Jaguars 0 - East Meadow 2

April 26

The final score did not reflect the intense level of play and teamwork displayed by the Jaguars today during their game against East Meadow at Harbor Links. After a slow start, the balance of the first half was dominated by the Jaguars offense which was led by Brian Ambadjes, Andrew Curcio, Brendan Deery, Anthony DeMarco, Anthony Lopes, Brendan Morrison and Chris Pun, as they consistently drove the ball up field but, unfortunately, came up short and was unable to score a goal. In the second half, the game went back and forth as the defense led by John Buckley, Liam Bradley, Anthony Cacchioli and Peter Keenan, went shoulder to shoulder with East Meadow trying to win back the ball. The team did a great job supporting their goalie, Daniel Flori, who kept the game close by making several great saves and directed the counter attacks with his outlet passes and punts.

April 26

International

U9

Panthers vs. Lightning - The Panthers fourth game of the season was a very exciting one .The players finally realized the concept of passing and finding open space. Anthony Carbone, Chris Valentine, Steve Polito lead our offense with some nice goals. Our first line of defense was Zachery Rotstein, Frankie Palmeri and Cleber Guanman. These guys were able to defend their goal and pass the ball up to the offensive players. Both goalies Cleber Guanman and Zachery Rotstein made some great saves keeping the hard shooting Lightning at bay. A great played game on both sides. Panthers, keep up the good work

U9/U10 DC United vs. Mutiny - These two teams came to the field ready to go. Nevin Nambiar got things started for DC United with the first of his two goals on the day with a picture perfect penalty kick that went straight to the top left corner. Jose Marulanda was his typical cat like self as he ran through and around a tough Mutiny defense on the way to his goal. John Kilcullen joined in the scoring as a tough defense led by the solid play of Bryan Wu, Kyle Donohue and Daniel Lee were very strong. Kyle Bangug was outstanding in the net all day with a number of quality saves. Gautam Nayyar contributed with hard play on both sides of the ball. It is a pleasure to work with a bunch of boys that give everything that is asked week after week. Thank you to our support group on the sidelines ( A.K.A. - Mom & Dad )

U8

Tigersharks v. Tornadoes - The Tigersharks and the Tornadoes put on a good display for their fans this weekend. The Tigersharks had to bring their "A" game to contain the twirling Tornado attack. Fortunately, Dylan Singh and Johnny Denaro were alert and quick to the ball as goal tenders to keep the ball out of the net. We have added two speedy and energetic players in Kameron Farhadi and Ryan Shum. Both players played with a lot of enthusiasm and they were able to push the ball into Tornado territory. We have also added two experienced players in James Castaldi and Nicholas Pellegrino. Nicholas led the team with superb defense and also scored a goal on a powerful shot that nearly ripped the back of the neck. James also scored after making a clever move to evade a defender and knocking the ball past the goal tender. The new players joined our seasoned veterans. Jimmy D. played with his usual vigor. Christopher Capodanno is taking on more responsibilities and playing some middle defender well. Joshua Chacko is regaining his form as one of our toughest defenders and developing good passing skills. Jeremy Barrios caps off the roster and is playing some of his best soccer.

Tigers vs. Lions - The Tigers were short handed again and played all day without any substitutes available. That did not stop this tough group of boys that had to dig deep to battle a Lions team that was relentless. Ronald Chirinos scored his first goal of the season after a long run down the field. Kevin Fox and James Connolly were amazing in goal holding a strong Lion team to one goal on the day. Dillon Langner and Peter Siozios were both spectacular setting up Christopher Kilcullen on each of his two scores. Lazar Markovic continues to improve week after week with hard work and hustle. Keep up the good team work boys. Thanks again to the strong support of our wonderful parents who cheer us on week after week.

Girls Division

Bonnet

U-8

Panthers vs. Cubs - Even the threat of rain could not stop the Panthers and Cubs from treating us to an outstanding and competitive game. The Cubs scored the lone goal of the first half, but thanks to some awesome goal tending by the Panthers MacKenzie Griffin and the grit and hustle of Ally Petricca, Ciara Lennon and Camryn Weinbaum, the Panthers held many of the Cub scoring opportunities. Early in the second period, Deirdre Lynch fed the ball to Natalie Giordano, who scored from the right side to tie the score at one a piece. The Cubs threatened to score many times in the second half, but were denied several times by Panther goalie Kelsey Nathan. Late in the game, with the score tied at one, Kira Crehan took a perfectly timed pass from Hannah Dienstag and scored the go ahead goal. With seconds remaining, the Cubs scored on a penalty kick, tying the game at two, which is how the game ended. This was a truly exciting game, in which all team members contributed.

Lightning - 3 Firecats - 6 - The Lightning lacked a bit of depth for this game, but we give full credit to the Firecats for coming out firing and quickly building a 3-0 lead. We only plunked in one nice goal by Sophia Leeds before the Firecats put in a late goal to make it 4-1 at the break. Mollie Zimmerman made a valiant effort in goal in the first half, but she had her hands full with such an very aggressive Firecat attack. In the secoond half, Kaitlyn Krems got a quick goal off a very nice pass by Sophie Michaels to make it 4-2, but the Firecats fired back to make it 5-2 shortly thereafter. Minutes later, Sophia Leeds took a nice shot from far out that got past the goalie to make it 5-3 before the Firecats finished things off for the 6-3 final. The offense of Kaitlyn, At Midfield, Casey Sanders played aggressive and made several nice passes - as did Marisa Menist who flashed some nice moves to change directions. On Defense, Bethany Ambrosio was very solid in the middle and took the ball wide nicely, while Jordyn Seagul and Dylan Sanders played very tough out there and blocked several chances. Kristin Granieri had some nice clearning kicks on D as well, as did Kasey Borduas. Kasey played goal in the second half and did a fine job keeping the score close. Jessica Goldstein and Isabel Ugolini - we missed you.

Firecats - 6 Lightning 3 - The Firecats were on 'Fire' Sunday going up against the previously undefeated Lighting. The Firecats got off to a fast start as Tiffany Velin put on quite a show, scoring 3 quick goals before the Lightning knew what hit them. Tiffany finished the game scoring 4 goals, making spin moves, using her speed and relentlessly attacking the goal. Edna Dudek was tireless as well in the first half, aggressively attacking the net and tucking in a goal to make it 4-1 at halftime. Rebecca Oliveri played the first half, and part of the second half in goal, and made several blocks of shots while giving up no rebounds. In the second half, Stephanie Karczewski scored a great goal by flying up the field from the left side and stuck a well placed ball to make it 5-2 at the time. Tiffany finished the scoring in the second half with the game capper to seal the deal 6-3. The Defense of Crystal Thomas, Stephanie K and Aly Luna was very solid all game long. Aly made several well-struck goal kicks to keep the ball out of the hands of the Lightning's attacking unit. Sarah Reigrod and Marcela Curcio were both very solid at midfield and did a great job dribbling, passing, and making several stops of the Lightning attackers. Abha Japi had a fine game as well on Midfield and D and did a very good job of clearing the ball out of the Firecat zone. Ashley Lasko played a little D and midfield before finishing the game in goal to preserve the hard fought win. Outstanding effort by everyone! We missed you Sara Salamon and Theodora P.

Travel

U-10

Lady Lynx - 2 Levittown - 1 April 26

The Lady Lynx played an outstanding team game this week despite missing three players and being forced to play shorthanded. The Lynx responded with a great team effort. The girls showed great heart and flexibility while also having a ton of fun. Ashley got the Lady Lynx rolling in the first half by beating her opponent to a free ball in the corner and crossing it out in front of the net. Jackie received the pass and spotted an open teammate in front of the goal. Julia T. missed on her first attempt was stopped on the second try before her hard work was rewarded with a goal on her third shot to the net. Aisling worked hard all game in the offensive zone and created multiply scoring tries. Allision was geat in goal once again and stopped all the shots attempted against her. Keri increased the Lady Lynx lead to 2-0 with a bullet past the keeper. Ashley and Jackie's hard work helped control the ball before the goal. Taylor stepped into the offensive flow in the second half and just missed adding to the Lynx lead. Julia L. was an anchor in the defensive zone teaming with Bianca to provide a solid wall for the Lady Lynx goalie rotation in the second half. It was the combined effort of Julia T. , Julia L. and Jackie that followed Allision 's strong half to help preserve the victory.

U-12

Lady Bengals 1 Syosset Storm 0 - The Lady Bengals came out fighting hard this early Saturday morning at Harbor Links. The team once again demonstrated fine team work with their awesome passing of the ball. Kathy Kariotis was on fire the whole game and when Dena Cavallaro won a 50/50 ball passing it to Meghan Lotti and then to Kathy who blasted it into the upper corner of the net. The goalie had no chance in stopping this bullet. The Lady Bengals dominated their opponent's net the rest of the game but the score remained 1-0. Keep it up girls!!!!!

U10

Kitkats Spring 08 Update:

With one win and two losses the Kitkats are gearing up for a strong finish. Every game has been hard fought and the girls are showing marked improvement in their individual skill and team play. Katya Keblish is playing the best soccer of her career. Laura Roantree is showing more and more of her ability and lifting the team with her talent and effort. Gabrielle Berger's work ethic and intensity have turned her into one of our most dangerous players. Catherine Saketos has stepped up her level of play with aggressiveness and solid ball control Using a combination of power and finesse, the determined Mikaela Kelly prowls the field creating scoring opportunities.. This year Taylor Cosme is complementing her indomitable killer instinct with a soft touch and great field vision. We knew Jessica Fox was one of the best defenders in the league but she is blossoming into a complete player demonstrating tantalizing offensive skills. Sarahelena Barrios continues to build on our great finish last season when she scored the winning goal with a minute left on our last game. Adding more versatility to the Kitkats, Brittany Apuzza complements the team with forceful defense. Amanda Zeitlin has emerged as top notch goaltender. In addition, her power and speed are a great advantage. Isabel Ryan's focus and competitiveness and she can excel at any position. Tara Sirotkin continues her steady development into a terrific player.. With three points the Kitkats are in the middle of the pack this season.