Weekend Wins for New Canaan’s Youth Soccer Girls; Norwalk Baseball Tops NC in Cal Ripken Majors

Soccer

4-1 Victory for ’06 Girls Red Soccer

—submitted by Sarah Patterson

The grey skies and cold temperature didn’t affect the drive of the 2006 Girls Red team to remain undefeated. With two victories under their belt, the girls were ready for a third straight win. While their parents were shivering in the cold drizzle, the girls were bringing the heat to Westport U11 Blue.

The game started with the determined team moving the ball around scrambling opponents and keeping it on Westport’s half of the field. Deft passing came from wings Nikki “Ferrari” Ferraro and Lila Gizzie while Fiona Mueller controlled the center of the midfield. Ava Pertusiello at striker was gunning for a goal having two powerful shots miss just over the crossbar. The girls could smell a score and finally struck first when Gizzie fired in a shot that bounced off of the Westport keeper. Hadley Walker was ready to blast the rebound into the net for the first strike of the game.

There were a couple more near goals with Kallie Patterson at striker charging the goal while shaking off defenders. Katie Quill was also in the mix distributing the ball with ease.Tema Wagner was a wall in goal making numerous saves and keeping Westport from scoring in the first half. Devon Russell and Kathryn Norton were just as solid on defense, thwarting any hope their opponents had for a counterstrike. After leaving Westport midfielders in her wake, Pertusiello sent a ball to Mueller which she hammered into the goal for the first tally in what was going to be a big day for the captain.

The team charged the field after a halftime regroup with coach Luke “Greeny” Green reminding them to keep their shape. Walker put on the yellow jersey for the second half ready to preserve the win in goal. Ceci Patterson was strong on the right side evading players and fighting for possession and Mueller struck again with a rocket in front of the goal that bounced off the heel of a defender.

Westport was able to finally score but their celebration was short lived. Soon after, Ferraro sent a beautiful pass to Mueller from the corner and, resembling German star Thomas Muller, Mueller lived up to her captain designation and completed her hat trick with a shot that looked like it may go right through the back of the goal.

The final tally was a 4-1 victory for the 2006 Red Girls bringing them to 3-0 on the season.

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’05 Girls Black Soccer Shuts Out Greenwich 5-0

—submitted by Mike Mottolese

The 2005 New Canaan Girls Black soccer team continued its winning ways Sunday afternoon against Greenwich inside the High School track oval.

With coach Ryan Fairhurst unable to make the game due to a last minute conflict, the girls played under unfamiliar leadership with a substitute coach, and the team responded.

After an early start that had the two teams looking evenly matched, the New Canaan girls found their stride as the first half progressed.

Early on in the first half, New Canaan’s Jocelyn Riley and Rory McCarthy had quality shots on goal, only to be thwarted by two great saves by the Greenwich keeper. After a clogged box saw New Canaan trying to get a foothold on the ball, Delaney Hoey managed to make some space and found the back of the net. The first half closed with McCarthy hitting the crossbar with an impressive strike, and the half closed with New Canaan holding a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, New Canaan turned on the scoring. Natalie Plosker charged the box on a breakaway and fired one point blank, which bounced off the keeper, but a heads-up Plosker got her own rebound for the score to make it 2-0. Another good save kept Abby Richardson’s strong kick out of the net. However, the quality play by the Greenwich keeper was at the mercy of their defense, as Ava Dunn sprung Alex Gelvin for a breakaway, and Gelvin was rewarded by the third goal of the game. Later in the second half, Paxton Beladino controlled a bouncing ball in front of the net and chipped it high over the keeper for the score to make it 4-0. Once again Dunn, playing an exceptional midfield, distributed the ball and led Charlotte Walter who blasted it in for the fifth and final goal of the game. Steady New Canaan keeper Emily Fox continued her strong play in goal, shutting out Greenwich for a final score of 5-0. The New Canaan 2005 Girl’s Black team has started the season 3-0.

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Baseball

The New Canaan BVSA Cardinals lost to the Norwalk East Avenue Pizza team 14-1. The Cardinal offense was powered by great at bats from Nate Rucci, Nick Burns and Peter Cioffi. The Cardinal defense saw web gems from Thomas Garcia, Robbie Hellman and Colin Perkins.