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The Mineola Mischief, the Mineola Athletic Association's newest boys travel soccer team, competed in the Ref-Fuel Tournament at the Mitchel Athletic Complex as a prep for their inaugural season in the Long Island Junior Soccer League. The Under 10 squad was competitive in the round robin affair finishing with a 2-3 record. The team received an early look at their divisional competition by facing off against two of the foes they will see in the upcoming season that begins on September 8 at 2:00 p.m. at Wilson Field. The team is coached by current New York Tech star Liam Wachter and his assistant TJ Czubakowski and supervised by travel coordinator Dolores Jose. Game 1 was dominated by the Mischief in a 3-0 victory over Smithtown. The team was a shooting machine racking up 21 shots. The first half was fraught with frustration as Nicky Ricciardi fell short of the nets on a breakaway chance from Scott Mogavero at the 10 minute mark. Minutes later, Theo Czubakowski missed on a penalty shot while Frank Texiera, Danny McAree and Ricciardi consecutively fired rockets off goalie gloves with three minutes remaining. Mineola excelled on defense by protecting Goalie Bryan Lopes with a tightly strung wall off an indirect kick to thwart the only Smithtown pressure of the day. The boys stepped it up in the second half. Michael Castellana and Andrew Ines turned aside all potential advances on defense and limited Lopes to only three contested shots. Mogavero put the Mischief on the board at seven minutes with a nicely placed goal off a corner kick. Just moments passed before Mogavero would tally again. Missing a shot off a header from TJ Winters, Scotty converted a pass from Texiera for a 2-0 advantage. Ricciardi would finish the offense on a goal served up by Winters. The second game provided the Mischief with a glimpse of the future. The North Shore Storm, a regular season opponent, held down their firepower by allowing only nine shots over the course of the game with aggressive defensive play. Two critical lapses cost Mineola. The Storm's first goal came one minute into the game. The MischiefMen played tough for the rest of the half until the Storm retaliated with another pair within the final 1:12. The game saw much physical play as the Mischief's entire defense was eliminated at one point on a bloody nose to Czubakowski and a damaged knee to stopper Castellana. Despite these setbacks, Mineola had its chances. Ricciardi missed on a break, Winters was taken off the ball at the net and Czubakowski clanged iron on a contestable goal . Lopes made great hand saves off pinpoint crosses at the intersection of the twine. The iron man award goes to midfielder Nicky Franzini who failed to leave the grass during both games of the Saturday schedule before suffering a recurring but temporary shoulder dislocation. . The Storm took away a 5-0 victory on 21 shots. The Mischief get their revenge on Sept. 22 at 3:40 p.m. on home turf at Wilson Field. The Sunday portion of the tournament began with positive reinforcement. Mineola played the finest game of their young careers in a 5-2 defeat of Northport. The Mischief had their usual lackluster first half behind a mere 1-0 lead at the midway point despite a remarkable 22 shots. Winters came up short on his left leg, Ricciardi and Mogavero hit posts and McAree could not convert on a rebound at the goal line. The lone winner came from Winters courtesy of a Mogavero header in the box with fifteen minutes gone. The shell-shocked Northport goalie fell victim during the barrage taking a vicious hit to the face from the side post on a save attempt forcing his removal. Coach Marianne Wachter, on loan for the afternoon from her U-12 seniors, read the riot act to the juniors at intermission and it worked. Winters would produce a sweet goal started by a clearing kick from Lopes and touched south by Mogavero. Shortly thereafter, Winters completed a natural hat trick from Ricciardi and returned the favor in the minutes to come. Ricciardi would close out the score sheet by slamming home a shot advanced from a Castellana free kick. Lopes was phenomenal in goal totaling 16 saves including a penalty shot and hand stops from no man's land. Danny Stagnari returned from vacation in the nick of time to support the defensive effort while James Pastoressa clogged up the midfield by getting in the mix of a variety of Northport maneuvers. The final two games of the tournament were a clear sign that the boys have some work ahead of them. The Mischief suffered back to back shutouts on consecutive days to Rockville Centre and Franklin Square. The disciplined play of the victors was a lesson in teamwork to the undermanned Mischief. Nicky Franzini provided the only optimism against Rockville Centre with a potential conversion of a penalty shot that fell shy. The Mischief will be able to avenge their 0-4 defeat to the Franklin Square Patriots early in a Sept. 15 road matchup at Soccer Park in Plainview. The Mischief have been practicing in earnest since midsummer and appear ready for the grind of LIJSL play. The Mischief have been fortunate to scrimmage the MAA boys U-11 team and girls U-12 squad throughout the training regimen of the humid summer as an entree to what is expected once the regular season begins. Please come out and support these proud sportsmen. The Mischief schedule is as follows:
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