Youth Soccer Roundup: Weekend Wins from U11 Girls White, U9 Boys White and U10 Boys Red and ‘Big Red Wrecking Ball’

Dunn Breaks Scoreless Halftime Tie for U11 Girls White Team

On a day that felt more like late November than the middle of May, the New Canaan U11 Girls White team took the field against the Fairfield USA White team at Farm Road.

The first half was evenly played between the two teams, with New Canaan having a slight advantage keeping offensive pressure in Fairfield’s zone. Forwards Jocelyn Riley, Peyton Franz and Kelly Marchiony had few scoring chances but were fed the ball by the strong feet of defenders Natalie Plosker and Amanda Benson. Goalkeeper KK Mottolese kept Fairfield off the board and ably covered the ball, and cleared to her teammates efficiently. After back and forth play between the two teams, the first half ended knotted at zero.

The second half saw more of the same back and forth action, with Marchiony, Franz and Paxton Beladino handling Fairfield’s defenders. Delaney Hoey worked the ball upfield and found Ava Dunn in front of the goal who kicked the ball into the far side of the net for the game’s first score, putting New Canaan up 1-0. Emily Fox took over in goal to start the second half, and with help from Mottolese, Plosker and Benson on defense, shut out her opponents. As the sun came out, so did New Canaan’s offense, with Abby Richardson, Hoey, Dunn and Riley keeping up the pressure on Fairfield’s defense. Late in the second half, New Canaan sealed the win, after Plosker booted it into the offensive zone and found Richardson, who put one high into the corner of the net to make it 2-0.

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‘Big Red Wrecking Ball’ Girls Soccer Team Holds Off Wilton 5-4 (this write-up from Jon Gizzie)

There had been a growing sense of unease all week. Would Sunday be the day that the unstoppable force of the Big Red Wrecking Ball would meet the immovable object of the one team that could put a stop to their epic winning streak? Fears abounded that Wilton U9G Blue might just be that team….

The Gods of Fairfield were no doubt equally distraught over this clash of soccer titans as the teams were besieged by unseasonable bouts of rain, hail and biting winds in opening play. Amidst the strange tempest, Wilton struck twice in the 5^th and 16^th minutes, quickly bringing the score to 0-2 and deepening the chill growing in the hearts of the parents shivering on the sidelines. The first glimmer of hope emerged in the 23^rd minute when Sydney Patten managed to sneak through the dense Wilton defense to hammer home a retribution goal from just outside the penalty box. Wilton quickly moved to extinguish this newly kindled ember of hope by scoring another goal just two minutes later. Down 1-3, the BRWB went into overdrive and began pummeling the Wilton defense in a maniacal quest to close the gap by the half. In the 29^th minute, Madison “Maddie” Tully finally broke Wilton’s stride as she stole a ball on a weak goal kick and forced an “own goal” off a confused defender. Feeling the tide start to turn, the BRWB held fast on defense and closed the half at respectable, but not comforting, score of 2-3.

At halftime, Coach Luke once again showed that he not only maintained the power to excise the first-half demons that had plagued the NC Red girls but he also seemed to have the power to control the Gods of Fairfield themselves. At the kickoff, almost on cue, the skies parted and sunlight bathed the pitch in the glowing light of promise for a strong second half. With newfound vigor, left-wing Lila Gizzie explosively attacked the Wilton goal on a well-timed feeder pass from Tully only to be roughly tackled in the penalty box by an overzealous defender. With the almost palpable tang of recompense hanging in the air, Patten summarily planted the penalty kick in the far corner of the net beyond the reach or comprehension of the bedazzled Wilton defenders. The teams battled across the pitch for several more minutes when another “own goal” took the wind out of Wilton’s sails and put the BRWB up for the first time at 4-3. Gizzie managed to draw another foul in the penalty box on a deep penetration run up the left side. Patten once again made a penalty kick worthy of Andres Cantor’s trademark “GOOOAAAALLL!” cry, authoritatively locking down her hat trick for the day and cementing the BRWB lead at 5-3. All-around exceptional play from the rest of the team: Payton DeCamillo, Cecilia Patterson, Julia McPhillips, Reese Quinn, Kallie Patterson, Parker Hanson, Madison “Maddy” Hartnett, Nikki “Ferrari” Ferraro and injured (but still collecting endorsements) Paige Place; led to a hard-fought win against a strong team even as Wilton made a last-ditch effort to close with a final score of 5-4.

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Stifling ‘D’ Preserves 2-2 Draw for U9 Boys White Team

Unseasonable cold and wind at Sunday’s game was the setting for U9 Boys White’s friendly match against Fairfield. With parents bundled in hats and gloves on the sidelines, U9 White gave it their all to tie Fairfield 2-2.

With a brisk wind blowing, U9 White started out strong with hustling, excellent teamwork and communication. Oliver Sturn, playing offense, consistently blocked the ball against Fairfield. On defense, Jack Mitchell made some great saves preventing Fairfield from having access to our goal.

Then deep into the first half, Holden Prymas passed the ball to Alex Russey who took the ball down the field in a breakaway and scored resulting in a 1-0 lead for U9 White at halftime.

Fairfield ramped up its game in the second half to score a goal quickly. But U9 White was having none of it. Sajan Shah broke away and took the ball down the field and scored bringing U9 White in the lead 2-1. Fairfield then scored. But the combination of Sturn’s defense, saves in the goal by Prymas and constant shots on goal by Charles Cushman, led to a 2-2 tie against Fairfield.

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Cuda Hat Trick Leads U10 Boys Red Over Greenwich

U-10 boys Red Team, led by coach Brendan Reidy defeated Greenwich 7-6 on Sunday.

Cole Wilson‘s cross to Ryan Moore landed Moore the first goal for New Canaan to bring Greenwich’s only lead of the game to a quick halt. Augusto Baldini scored the second goal in his trio for the day.

The defensive moves of Alex Werner, Jayden Oyekanmi and Jack Wolpers were strong to keep Greenwich at bay. The half ended with Leyton Warren skillfully kicking the ball to Jack Cuda to land one in for the start of Cuda’s hat trick.

The second half showed additional scores for Greenwich; however New Canaan kept its lead throughout. Will Langford and Ted Werner were solid in goal securing the win for New Canaan.