New Canaan FC Girls U11 Red Team Has Championship Weekend
New Canaan Football Club U11 Girls Red Team. Contributed
The New Canaan FC Girls U11 Red Team played two games this past weekend to claim their division’s champion title.
On Saturday, the Red team traveled to Newtown to take on the number one seeded Wilton Blue Team in a game that turned out to be one of the most tension filled games of the season.
New Canaan scored first when Saige Hartslief stole the ball from Wilton and passed it to Addie Cannon who worked a beautiful crossing pass to Ava Gizzie. Gizzie blasted a shot into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. The defensive play of Kate Caione and Nola Kammerer, with the goal tending of Ella Patterson, managed to keep Wilton at bay but Wilton would score twice to bring the score to 2-1 as the half ended.
The second half was a battle for field position when a free kick was given to New Canaan in the Wilton zone. Ava Gizzie took the kick which was saved, but the rebound was recovered in front of the goal by Natalie Owsley who put a shot past the goalie. With the score now 2-2, Gizzie added to her tally for the day when she came up with an amazing breakaway and goal to give a 3-2 lead back to New Canaan.
Caroline Underwood’s second half goal tending was tough but Wilton would not go down quietly and scored on a corner kick to make the score 3-3. As the clock wound down, New Canaan kept up the pressure in the Wilton end. With just a minute to go in the game, the action in the box resulted in a penalty call against Wilton. A penalty kick was awarded to New Canaan which was taken and made by Ava Gizzie sending the score to 4-3. Gizzie got a hat trick for the day and New Canaan the win as time expired. The Red Team was victorious and would have a chance to play for the championship on Sunday.
On Sunday the Red Team traveled back to Newtown to take on their cross-town rival Darien in the championship game. Once again the Red Team found itself in a tense battle. The action packed game proved to be evenly matched with both teams moving the ball well and playing great defense. New Canaan scored the first goal of the game when they were awarded a free kick after a hand ball call against a Darien defender. Katharine Byrne took the shot and buried it into the upper part of the net to give New Canaan a 1-0 lead. Patterson’s goal tending was perfect and the half ended with New Canaan on top 1-0.
As the final half of the fall soccer season began it was apparent that Darien was not going to give up their chance at the title. Both teams came out with high energy and quick play. Just minutes into the half Darien converted a corner kick into a score to tie the game at 1-1.
With thirty minutes to play the heat was turned up, leaving the fans riding an emotional roller coaster as both teams made great game saving defensive plays and potential game winning attacks. As the final whistle blew the game ended in a 1-1 tie and by rule the championship game does not go to overtime but co-champions are awarded. So New Canaan and Darien are both considered division champions and will have to wait to battle it out again in the spring season.
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U10 Boys Red Team. Coach Darren Kelso with players Jack Cuda, Jayden Oyekanmi, Cole Wilson , Alex Werner, Henry Silva, Fletcher Heron, Augusto Baldini, Max Lowe, Connor Lytle, Will Langford and Ben Bilden. Not pictured in photo: Ted Werner
New Canaan U10 Red Dominates Newtown
In the last game of the season, the New Canaan U10 Red Team shined with a 6-2 win over Newtown on Sunday. Newtown scored shortly after the start however New Canaan regrouped quickly. Augusto Baldini started the barrage of goals followed by Will Langford, Jack Cuda and Connor Lytle to bring the score to 4-1 at the end of the first half. Goalie Cole Wilson, and the defense of Alex Werner, Fletcher Heron, Henry Silva and Max Lowe kept Newtown scoreless the rest of the half.
The second half started with another score from Newtown. The footwork of Ben Bilden and Jayden Oyekanmi coupled with Lytle’s accuracy landed him a hat trick for the game. Baldini stayed strong in goal for the second half to end the game with a 6-2 win. The U10 Red Boys Team end the season with a 9-2-1 record thanks to the strong coaching of Darren Kelso who led the team this season.
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NC Boys U9 Black celebrate their 4-2 victory over NJSA White. Contributed
New Canaan Boys U9 Black with a 4-2 Victory over NJSA White
NC U9 Boys Black ended their season on a high note, coming together as a team with a handy win over Norwalk. The game got off to a quick start with Andrew Zoccolillo scoring the first goal off of a penalty kick to the right side of the goal. With NC on the offensive and exceptional goaltending by Harry Mayock, Norwalk only managed to get one goal on a breakaway, leaving the score at 1-1 at the end of the first half.
During the second half, NC kicked it into high gear. Alex Srinivasan scored a second goal early on, quickly followed by a third by Ben Bognon, with an assist by Drew DeGaetano. Strong midfield passing by George Matviak and Charlie Minter paired with great defensive play by Will Sullivan and Dylan Rees kept the ball off of NC’s side and a resilient Patrick Good in goal did not let anything past. A well-angled crossing shot by Hugo Sutton enabled Jackson Mountford to put another goal past Norwalk. It was only in a last few minutes of the game that Norwalk was able to score a second goal but at that point, NC had proven its dominance on the field. The boys celebrated with a great final game, showing just how far they have come this season.
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New Canaan FC Girls U9 Red Wins vs. Old Greenwich
The Big Red Wrecking Ball in their natural habitat. Contributed
For a final time this season, the New Canaan FC Girls U9 Red team took to the field on Sunday to test their mettle against the formidable Old Greenwich U9 Thunder. The long shadows of November were markedly absent as fine rays of sunshine found their way down through the clouds to illuminate the pitch and provide some much needed warmth before play kicked off in earnest. Early play saw both teams driving the ball back and forth across both sides of the pitch – neither team gaining the advantage – as Nikki “Ferrari” Ferraro kept her engine running anchoring the NC Red goal. After several more feints and thrusts by both teams, Paige Place scissored the ball up the right side of the pitch and sent a beautiful cross to Maddie Tully who danced past a stunned Old Greenwich defender and planted the ball in the back of the net to bring the score to 1-0. Shortly thereafter, Lila Gizzie relieved Ferraro in goal and held the Old Greenwich team scoreless for the rest of the half with the aid of the indomitable defensive wall of Parker Hanson and Cecilia Patterson.
Old Greenwich emerged from the halftime break with renewed vigor and brought a series of attacks to the NC Red goal. Undaunted, keeper Reese Quinn rejected several incoming strikes and maintained NC Red’s shutout. As the tide shifted, the Big Red Wrecking Ball began to show their true colors as numerous offensive thrusts were launched on Old Greenwich from wingers Payton DeCamillo, Julia McPhillips and Madison “Maddy” Hartnett while Sydney Patten controlled the middle with surgically precise passes. Finally, with five minutes left in the game, Kallie Patterson took advantage of a loose ball bouncing in front of the goal and hammered it into the upper left corner of the net, leaving the frustrated Old Greenwich keeper shaking her head in disbelief.
Congratulations to all the girls on a fantastic season and an auspicious start for the Big Red Wrecking Ball.
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Team photo left to right; (bottom row) Sophie Potter, Katie Dunn, Michelle LaBadie, Sophie Curcio, Lizzie Kuchinski, (top row) Taylor Frame, Sophie Smith, Jane Charlton, Maddie Otero, Katherine Lisecky, Allison Leopold, Riana Afshar, Elizabeth DeMarino, Caroline Wilson, Natalie Lopez, Charlie Gardner, and Emily Baker, and Head Coach Barry Beattie, not pictured are players Emma Achille and Kearney McKiernan
New Canaan U14 Girls Travel Soccer Team Nets Championship
New Canaan’s Division-A U14 girls travel soccer team earned the title of “Champions of the Connecticut Junior Soccer Association (Southwest District)” this past weekend in single elimination bracket play of the top 4 Fairfield district teams which was hosted away by Fairfield United Soccer Association (FUSA).
On Saturday, NC played Darien in the Semifinals which was a tough nail biter where NC eventually defeated Darien in penalty kicks after double overtime advancing to the finals. During the first half, NC striker Taylor Frame scored first at the 10 minute mark putting NC up 1-nil. NC’s tenacious rotating defensive back line anchored mainly that day by Jane Charlton, Elizabeth DeMarino, Natalie Lopez, Sophie Potter, Sophie Smith, and Caroline Wilson kept Darien’s offense restricted mostly to the midfield for the majority of the match.
Unfortunately with 3 minutes left to play, Darien won a corner kick and flooded the penalty box with all its players which resulted in a tying goal. When queried, NC goalkeeper (GK) Michelle LaBadie replied, “I never saw the ball through the traffic of players in front of me until it was over my head.”
The game ended knotted (1-1) which launched overtime play that consisted of two 10-minute periods which yielded no additional scores. The match then reverted to the next tie breaker which was the best of 5 PKs that also ended all square (NC goals in order were from Sophie Smith, Lizzie Kuchinski and Frame):
The last tiebreaker was then single round(s) of PK shoots until the tie was broken. On this first round, NC GK LaBadie stopped the Darien strike and then NC Katie Dunn laced one into the back of the net for the game winner. Dunn and LaBadie then found themselves at the bottom of a celebratory pig pile.
On Sunday, NC played in the Finals against Weston who had beaten the Bridgeport FC Fire Starz (2-1) the previous day. Sunday was also very windy which helped NC as Kuchinski took a shot from some 30 yards out which the wind caught and gently guided the ball over the Weston GK’s head finding the upper part of the net and putting NC up 1-nil at the 19 minute mark. As usual, NC’s combined efforts from their midfield, defensive back line and GK kept Weston off the scoreboard resulting in a 1-0 shutout victory (8th shutout of the season) for the Championship Title.