St. Aidan CYO Soccer Round Up

Friday, 05 October 2012 00:00

St. Aidan Fourth-Grade CYO Soccer Starts Strong

The fourth-grade St. Aidan’s boys soccer team got off to a good start to its 2012 campaign, following up a 1-1 draw in the season opener with an exciting 2-1 win over Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL). In their opening game, St Aidan was frustrated for much of the game by a tough Holy Spirit defense before Jack Flood connected on a one-timer off a perfect cross from Luke Sommese.

Flood’s heroics tied the game with five minutes remaining.  Luke Sherry and William Winski starred on defense for St. Aidan.

A week later against OLL, the St. Aidan boys again dug themselves a 1-0 hole and had to fight through a tough defense to even the score midway through the second half.  Dylan Haase poked a loose ball towards Liam Russelman, who deftly zoomed past the Lourdes fullbacks before directing a shot past the diving goalkeeper to draw his team even.

With 10 minutes remaining, Aidan Scott’s perfect throw-in set Russelman free down the right side, where his crossing pass found Colin Fisch and then Brendan Sullivan before ending up at the foot of Haase, who calmly drove it into the back of the net to give his team a lead they would hold.

Patrick Solosky’s outstanding goalkeeping kept his team in the game and Chris Marotta’s strong defending thwarted numerous OLL attacks during the game.

OLL Tops St. Aidan 4-2

The fifth-grade Our Lady of Lourdes boys soccer team scored two quick goals to start the game and held off a determined fourth-grade St. Aidan team 4-2.  St. Aidan record fell to 1-1-1 after the loss.

After the rough start, St. Aidan rallied, with Luke Sherry bursting in from his left fullback spot to chip home a goal before the first half ended, bringing his team to within one of tying the score. After another OLL goal to start the second half, St Aidan repeatedly forced the play in the OLL end of the field.

After near misses by Colin Fisch, Dylan Haase, Marco Cangemi and Brendan Sullivan, St. Aidan finally caught a break when Liam Russelman drove a hard cross from the left corner off an OLL defender and into the goal. St Aidan could not find the equalizer after that and allowed one final goal to OLL as time expired.   

MAA Travel Soccer News

Mini-Mustangs Stopped By Great Neck

The GU14 Mineola Mini-Mustangs fell to 0-1-1 on the season with a frustrating 2-1 defeat to Great Neck.  Mineola had trouble controlling possession all game and allowed the winning goal to Great Neck late in the second half, minutes after Allison Lamonica had tied the game with a hard shot from a tough angle.

Gretchen Keller played well in goal for Mineola, turning away several tough shots to keep the game close. The loss followed a terrific 2-2 draw a week earlier with New Hyde Park.

Mineola applied constant pressure during the game, but saw shots from Alana Conroy and Katie Russelman crash off the goalposts and numerous other opportunities fail to reach the back of the NHP net.  Although they held possession for much of the second half, Mineola found itself trailing 2-1 with under seven minutes remaining.

Mineola center back Brianna Lopes started the game-tying play with a long run from the Mineola penalty area through midfield before driving a hard pass towards the NHP box. Mineola’s Shannon Durham pounced on the ball as it rebounded off the NHP keeper and deposited it into the empty net to cap a tremendous, resilient effort by the Mini-Mustangs.

Durham and Keller shared goalkeeping duties for Mineola, and Lamonica supplied the first goal of the match for Mineola, off a beautiful pass from Keller. Valerie Cobos’ efforts as right-backer for Mineola continuously stopped NHP attackers from pressuring the Mineola goal.

Mini-Mustangs Top Massapequa

The GU14 Mineola Mini-Mustangs controlled possession for most of its game against Massapequa and earned its first win of the young season behind the strength of two first half goals by striker Allison Lamonica.  Lamonica’s first goal came off a well-struck shot from the top of the Massapequa penalty area that soared over the leaping goalkeeper’s hands.

Brianna O’Brien’s deft pass set up Lamonica’s second score. Mineola’s sharp passing game led to several more opportunities in the game, resulting in near misses by Natalia Cotto, Christen Patalano and Emma Feimer.  Shannon Durham and Gretchen Keller combined in goal for the Mineola shutout.

Mighty Win For Mineola

Jack Flood’s speed and tenacity resulted in three goals for the Mineola midfielder, as the BU9 Mineola Mighty won its first game of the season, topping Manhasset 4-2 at Wilson Park. Brian Heckelman scored Mineola’s first goal off a hard shot from outside the Manhasset penalty area.

Flood scored the next three, with each goal in his hat trick coming as the result of Flood driving hard to the Manhasset goal to fire home rebounds or loose balls.  Brent Muessig and Luke Sommese starred in goal for Mineola, which improved to 1-2 on the season.