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New Canaan U9 Boys Black team. Contributed
U9 Boys Black Beat Riverside 3-1 To Cap Winning Season
Facing down the Riverside team, the offensive line of Nate Markin, Alex Werner and Matthew Stimpson held their shape beautifully as they pressured the Riverside goal. Nate, Ehrlich and Nis Tuga each took a shots on goal that narrowly missed the mark.
Midfield Chase Abbott locked down the right sideline and and Finn Greiner the left and forced Riverside players to try and come up the center, only to be intercepted by Enzo Fredericks and Nathan Sieckhaus. To deny Riverside any score, Fletcher Heron ran down a rare breakaway and goalie, Luke Frame, scrambled for a save on a fast, cross shot. The half ended without a score.
The halftime talk with coach James ended in a loud “Go Black Team!” The cheer resonated as the boys took the field for the last time. Switching up the lineups, Benji Sturcke, Frame and Heron started on offense. The halftime energy was obvious and within just a few minutes, Cyrus Pearson made a targeted pass to Frame for the first goal. Heron got a breakaway and scored goal two.
Riverside dug in their heals and charged back, forcing Werner and Sieckhaus to wage battle right in front of the goal, while goalie, Markin, made some darting saves. Greiner and Abbott continued to skillfully work the ball up the sidelines, passing to Sturcke, Tuga, Pearson and Fredricks. From deep in the corner of the field, Pearson made another great pass, this time to Fredricks for the final goal.
An enthusiastic team cheered as the whistle blew, capping a winning season, filled with teamwork and fun for U9 boys black.
Despite the wind and the biting cold, New Canaan U9 Black was hot!
Playing headlong into the wind, the offensive line of Luke Frame, Matthew Stimpson and Alex Werner were up and running. Within minutes they made a trio of passes, Stimpson to Werner who crossed to Frame, for the goal! Frame followed this goal up with a second goal, flicked over the goalie’s head. Nate Ehrlich and Nis Tuga joined the front line rotation and kept intense pressure on Stamford.
Not to be outdone, the defense of Chase Abbott, Nathan Sieckhaus, Cyrus Pearson and Nate Markin worked the sidelines, feeding the ball up the field. Enzo Fredericks and Fletcher Heron anchored the center defense and goalie, Benji Sturcke denied Stamford’s attempts to score.
Second half New Canaan cemented the lead with a quick goal by Finn Greiner. Stamford rallied for a charge on goal, but Markin deflected a shot to the goal and Stamford remained scoreless. Coordinated teamwork between Stimpson, Tuga and Heron resulted in Heron adding to the tally with a shot over the goalie’s head.
Fredericks scored goal five and with just minutes left in the game, Greiner scored goal six.
Coach James kept Stamford guessing with quick rotations, allowing all the boys a chance to play the entire field. Without exception, U9 Black’s precision passing and awareness of openings in the center, proved too much for Stamford and the game ended with a score of 6-0.
Kelly Polacek and Kailee See beat Norwalk’s defense in New Canaan’s win on Sunday. Contributed photo
New Canaan U9 Girls Red Defeat Norwalk 6-2 in Final Game of the Season
This past Sunday, the New Canaan U9 Girls Red soccer team rolled past Norwalk 6-2 and finished their season 7-1-1.
Both teams started out tentative with possession changing hands multiple times in the midfield. Defenders Devon Russell and Alexandra Gelvin made quick work of any attempts to threaten New Canaan’s net and kept moving the ball up the field. Katie Quill struck first intercepting a clearing attempt by Norwalk’s defense, which she took in by herself to give the Red an early lead. As has been the case much of the season, New Canaan’s goals come in waves. Kailee See scored next dribbling across the net and striking a hard shot to the corner. Keeping the momentum going, Lila Volpe took a pass from See, weaved thru the defense and delivered a high strike past the goalie. Next up was Kelly Polacek, who stole the ball at midfield, raced down the left sideline and fired a rocket into the corner of the net. With the first half coming to a close, Norwalk was able to get on the board to make it 4-1 at the break.
Feeling confident after their goal at the end of the first half, Norwalk came out and quickly found the net to make it a two-goal game. The Red however did not wait long to take control. Midfielders Ava Pertusiello and Fiona Mueller led several drives into the offensive zone. Mueller eventually found Maggie Murphy with a pass down the right sideline, who took it around the defense and laced a shot into the left corner of the net. Norwalk attempted to make it a contest with a series of corner kicks that were all stopped by goalie Isabel Cavanagh and expertly cleared out of the zone. One such clearing was picked up by Tema Wagner, which she skillfully evaded past Norwalk’s midfielders and connected to Gelvin, who scored the final goal for New Canaan.
U12 Boys Red: Carson Perlman, Christopher See, Oliver Power, Henry Lindberg, Bobby Mushkin, Liam Power, Coach Matt Lannon, Jack Fannon, Jack Eccleston, Charlie Wright, Will Stallings, Peter Miller, Andrew Frederick, Cole Reiss, Kyle Sneddon, Bryce Campbell, George Matthew Michell, Ford Beck, Charles Brossy. Contributed photo
New Canaan U12 Boys Red Are Division Champions Following Undefeated Regular Season
After an undefeated regular season, the New Canaan U12 Boys Red soccer team and Coach Matt Lannon headed to the CT Southwest District Division playoffs in Wilton this past weekend.
The team beat Fairfield, Darien, Bethel, Old Greenwich, Wilton, Monroe and Greenwich during the regular season making them the top seed heading into the playoffs.
On Saturday, New Canaan took the pitch against Greenwich at 12:30 for the Division Semi-finals. New Canaan’s aggressive start resulted in an early goal.
The team maintained their momentum and scored three more goals. Goalkeeper Ford Beck deflected a penalty kick on goal and New Canaan shut out Greenwich 4-0.
New Canaan returned to Wilton on Sunday to face Monroe in the Championship Final.
New Canaan’s effective passing and aggressive defense resulted in a 2-0 lead by halftime. The team’s continued pressure against Monroe in the second half earned them a third goal, with New Canaan defeating Monroe 3-0.
Over the course of the season, the team had 37 goals for and 5 goals against in league games.
New Canaan U9 Boys Red team has an undefeated first season of travel soccer. Back row: Sideline assistant Michele Baldini, Coach Chris Gilligan, Sideline Assistant Spencer Schubert. Middle row: Max Lowe, Felipe Galavis, Connor Lytle, Will Langford, Teddy Balkind, Cole Wilson, Teddy Werner, Ben Bilden. Front row: Jaden Oyekanmi, Jack Cuda, Henry Silva, Ethan Schubert, Augusto Baldini, Teddy Hoffstein. Contributed photo
NC Boys U9 Red Team Completes Undefeated Season
With Sunday’s win over Norwalk, the Boys U9 Red team completed their first season of travel soccer undefeated.
This talented group of 8-year-old boys, coached by Chris Gilligan, just kept getting better as the season progressed. The relentless offense and unbeatable defense were a foil for all of the other teams in the CJSA Southwest.
Ben Bilden scored first in Sunday’s game, off a pass from Teddy Hoffstein. Norwalk tied it up a few minutes later, but Connor Lytle, New Canaan’s leading scorer, scored two quick goals in a row, with assists by Will Langford and Augusto Baldini, to bring the score to 3-1.
In the second half, with the momentum clearly on New Canaan’s side, Coach Chris Gilligan moved Jaden Oyekanmi, Teddy Werner, Max Lowe, Cole Wilson and Teddy Balkind, who have been vital all season as the team’s unbeatable defensemen, up to to offense, to give them a chance for goals before closing the season.
They did not hesitate to demonstrate that they could be just as good on offense. Jaden Oyekanmi scored within minutes, after Cole Wilson and Max Lowe moved the ball up the field to Jaden in the box. Then Teddy Werner took the ball up and passed to Teddy Hoffstein in the box, whose goal brought the score to 5-1. Ethan Schubert kicked in New Canaan’s final goal, off a pass from Jack Cuda. Teddy Balkind, the team’s goalie, kept Norwalk to two goals and closed the season with only 12 goals scored against New Canaan (versus 46 scored by the Red).
The team is looking forward to rejoining their teammates in the spring for another season of great soccer.
Ava Gizzie breaks way up the field. Contributed photo
New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team Wins Thriller in Westport
On a beautiful autumn Sunday in Westport, the New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team closed its season with a spectacular 4-3 victory over Westport Blue.
Having lost a heartbreaker to Westport earlier this season, the Red Team traveled to Westport looking for redemption in this divisional rematch.
The season finale began with both teams coming out strong and smartly cycling the ball around the pitch. The defenses were keen and the score held at 0-0 for 10 minutes. The New Canaan defense, led by Caroline Underwood tending goal, repelled multiple Westport attacks before finally allowing the first goal of the game. Down by a goal the Red team battled hard but Westport once again found the net leaving New Canaan a 2-goal deficit.
With time running out in the half, New Canaan’s offense came to life and was pressuring the Westport zone when Ava Gizzie blasted a shot from 20 yards away that left the Westport goalie no chance to make a save. With the gap down to one goal the first half came to an end with Westport on top 2-1.
As the second half began both teams came out energized to play their last minutes of the season. Ellie Gallois tended the net for the second half, and made a number of saves to slow down the Westport attacks. However, once again the Blue team managed to score midway through the half setting the score at 3-1.
With only 15 minutes left in the game, New Canaan did not get down and courageously battled back. The offense turned up the heat on Westport and Caroline Underwood broke up the field to beat the Blue team goalie and chip away at the Westport lead making the score 3-2.
New Canaan continued on the attack and once again quickly scored the equalizer when Katharine Byrne put a beautiful shot over the Westport goalie after receiving a crossing pass from Nola Kammerer.
With the time ticking away, the Red team had the momentum and the spirit to make one last press into the Westport zone.
As the New Canaan forwards worked the ball up the field, Ava Gizzie caught site of Saige Hartslief in the box and delivered a perfect crossing pass. Hartslief obliged and totally connected with the ball, blasting a shot past the Westport goalie to give New Canaan the lead for the first time of the day. Leading the game 4-3, New Canaan was able to hold off Westport for the final minute and went on to an exciting victory.
The Red team showed a lot of heart and never quit when the going got tough. Sunday’s victory was truly a collective effort and reflected the way this team approached their winning 6-3 season.
Girls U9 Black Team Holds Fairfield Scoreless in Season Finale
The Girls U9 Black team ended the season holding its opponent scoreless for the third straight game, playing to a 0-0 tie with Fairfield United Team 5 on Sunday, Nov. 9.
The game was back and forth all afternoon. And while Fairfield was aggressive, getting off over 15 shots on goal – the New Canaan goalies were impassable. Goaltenders Maeve Hibbert and Sophie Brauweiler were amazing at consistently shutting down Fairfield’s offensive charges on net (even to the point of multiple dives over the ball).
All of the girls played strong defense, including standout efforts by Claire Ognibene, Claire Pellegrino, Logan Severance and Lauryn Lee.
And while New Canaan didn’t score, they put constant pressure on the Fairfield goalies with notable performances by Charlotte Walters, Lily Magliacano, Rani Joshi, Hadley Walker, and Sloane Griffiths.
Under the leadership of Coach Chris Gilligan, the U-9 Girls Black Team had a tremendous season, as they consistently displayed strong teamwork, sportsmanship and hard work throughout the fall.