[Editor’s Note: What follows are write-ups of three recent New Canaan Soccer Association games. Many thanks to the authors and to the NCSA. Please send your youth sports write-ups and photos to mike@nctest.proxy02.mageenet.net for inclusion in our website, daily newsletter and social media channels.]
Caroline Underwood (L) and Ellie Gallois (R) move the ball up the field on a scoring drive for New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Soccer Team. Contributed photo
The New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team Gives Darien the Blues
The New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team opened regular season play Sunday, on the road against the Darien Blue Team. Just one week after being defeated by Darien in the Fall Annual Soccer Tournament, the two teams met again on the pitch for a heated rematch that resulted in an impressive 7-2 victory for the New Canaan squad.
The first 10 minutes of the game was a scoreless back-and-forth battle for control of the ball. The Darien offense pressed hard into the New Canaan zone, but was repeatedly rejected by the Red team’s defense.
The defensive play of Ava Gizzie and Kate Caione, anchored by the strong goaltending of Nola Kammerer, shut down Darien’s attempts to score. After great defensive play, the offense came alive when Caroline Underwood scored on a crossing pass from Ellie Gallois for the game’s first goal.
New Canaan continued the offensive pressure when just minutes later Underwood set up Evelyn Slatoff who blasted a shot past the Darien goalie to send the game to 2-0.
Ava Gizzie then took an amazing indirect free kick that went over a defensive wall and found the upper right corner of the net to stretch the New Canaan lead.
With the score 3-0, Darien answered back with a goal of its own, before Ellie Gallois broke free down the field and beat the Blue team’s goalie for another uptick in New Canaan tally. With two minutes left in the half, Caroline Underwood returned the favor to Gallois by feeding her a pass up the field, resulting in her second breakaway goal of the game. The half came to a close with New Canaan leading 5-1.
The second half began much like the first, with great collective defensive play by the New Canaan squad. Ella Patterson was impressive tending the goal and shut down multiple scoring attempts by the Darien offense.
Though Darien battled hard, they were unable to contain the New Canaan offensive charge. Gallois once again found the back of the net after driving through the Darien defense to get her third goal and the Hat Trick for the day. With the score 6-1, New Canaan was not done and scored their final goal when Ava Gizzie broke away down the field to punctuate the day’s scoring. With just seconds left in the game, Darien scored their second goal and the game ended with a 7-2 New Canaan victory.
Up next for the Red team is the Westport Blue team, on Sept. 14.
New Canaan U11 Girls Red team’s Kaleigh Harden dribbles past her Wilton opponent. Contributed photo
U11 Girls Red shuts out Wilton Blue 4-0 in Season Opener
The New Canaan Soccer U11 Girls Red team, coached by Gwyn Jones, kicked off its regular season on Sunday with a decisive 4-0 win against Wilton Blue.
Coming off a second place finish in the John Jay Labor Day Tournament, the girls were anxious to get out on the pitch and assert their division dominance. Although the first half brought intense action in both halves of the field, the New Canaan front line displayed impressive passing and footwork, scoring three goals before the half-time whistle blew.
On a beautiful assist by Jade Lowe, Caitlin Tully scored goal number one for New Canaan. Avery Minter’s speed and hustle in the midfield set up Kiki Brainard to score the team’s second goal of the day. Brainard was also responsible for the third goal of the half with a long-distance shot straight into the net. Quality defense by Kaleigh Harden and Angelica Megdanis prevented New Canaan goalkeeper Hollis Mulry from seeing much action.
Though trailing 3-0, Wilton stepped up the heat in the second half with strong pressure on the New Canaan defense. Keeper Kaleigh Harden’s “Tim Howard-like” display kept a clean sheet for New Canaan, while the offense, led by Dillyn Patten and Grace Crowell, had several quality shots on the Wilton goal. Katie Perlitz secured a New Canaan win with a left-footed blast past the keeper.
Overall, an impressive season debut for the U11 Girls Red team. New Canaan takes their show on the road Sept. 14. when they face off against FUSA (Fairfield) U11 Girls Red.
Jack Cuda and Teddy Hoffstein of the New Canaan U-9 team move the ball skillfully down the field during a 7-1 victory over Wilton on Sept. 7, 2014. Contributed photo
New Canaan Boys U9 Team Downs Wilton 7-1
The New Canaan boys U-9 team faced off Wilton last Sunday at their first regularly scheduled season game.
They came out strong with Jack Cuda scoring the first goal off of a corner kick from Connor Lytle. An exciting second goal was scored by Felipe Galavis with an assist from Cole Wilson.
Wilton scored one to make the early score 2-1. New Canaan continued with the lead and dominated the play with six additional goals in the first half by Teddy Werner, Ethan Schubert, Teddy Hoffstein and two by Connor Lytle.
Max Lowe and Teddy Balkind split time in the goal the first half and Jaden Oyekanmi kept goal during the second half. The entire group of boys showed their impressive passing abilities and teamwork to pull of this 7-1 win.
U10 Boys Red Begin Season with a 7-1 Opening ‘W’ vs. Weston
The first 20 minutes of this hard-fought match featured New Canaan peppering the net. On-target attempts by Alberto Reyes, Sam Bisesi and Stone Anderson were thwarted by exceptional saves by the Weston goalie. After a temporary change in momentum, Weston found the back of the net for the first goal of the game to lead 1 – 0.
Then came the 27th minute of the match, a moment that marked the start of a New Canaan surge.
First half goals came fast and furious starting with a bender by Reyes into the top right corner of the net. Three more goals quickly followed. Reyes distributed to Tommy Augustine for a poised chip, then Blake Wilson converted a rebound off the goalie, and finally, Ethan Crawford laid off a nice pass to Stone Anderson for a well executed goal to end the half.
New Canaan netted three more goals in the second half, including Connor O’Donnell scoring a rebound off the right post and Reyes connecting with another two on assists by Anderson and Bisesi.
New Canaan Girls U11 Black Score Big in Home Opener Win Against Bethel
The New Canaan Girls U11 Black soccer team beat Bethel 5-1 on Sunday, setting a high bar the new season.
The New Canaan girls controlled the play early and scored four of their five goals in the first half.
Anna Barnard opened the scoring with some gritty work to break through the defense and bury the ball in the back of the net.
Next, with her teammates breaking, Grace Flatow boomed a shot on goal from outside the penalty box, sending the goaltender stumbling back into the net for goal number two. Then it was McKenna Usher’s turn to add to the tally, finishing a breakout that started from a throw in at midfield.
Next up in first-half action was Jasmine Mansourov, who picked a pass from Carolyn Baron out of the air and into the open net. Bethel had strong opportunities but was denied by goaltender Zoe Walker, who stopped a hard shot from point blank range at the end of the half.
In the second half, New Canaan showed good ball control and set the pace of the game. Bethel was not about to give up and go home, though and managed to get on the scoreboard with their lone goal. And while Bethel mounted some strong offensive attacks, the team would be turned back by tough defense led by Maiah Oyekanmi and Meghan Driscoll. Anna Barnard put game on ice with her second goal of the game for New Canaan, capping off a great day off soccer for the girls U11 Black team.