U10 Girls Black Soccer Triumphs Over Danbury, 3-1
Kailee See on the ball for NC and Lily-Jane Auerbach in a supporting position. Contributed
The U10 Girls Black soccer team went toe-to-toe with a physical Danbury squad today and came out with a hard fought 3-1 win.
In the first half, New Canaan’s defense was stifling as Kailee See, Amanda Vigano, Sofie Brauweiler and Chloe Oyekanmi took a stronghold on the field. Goalie Logan Severance anchored the defense with a staunch performance.
New Canaan took an early lead with the persistence of Alexandra Gelvin, who found Reagan Quinn in the penalty box. Quinn, with great poise, nailed a low shot past the goalie. Soon after, Danbury returned the favor with their only goal of the game.
During the second half, Danbury’s offense peppered the New Canaan goal with renewed vigor. Luckily, Oyekanmi expertly fended off attackers with six incredible saves that displayed both agility and fearlessness. Maeve Hibbert was also solid in the backfield for NC.
The New Canaan offense stepped up the attack with Hadley Walker, Celia Parkhill, and Lily-Jane Auerbach weaving past the imposing Danbury defense. See fought off a handful of defenders to feed the ball to Claire Ognibene, who drove a rocket into the bottom left corner to make the game 2-1. The final goal was delivered by Ognibene, on a commanding solo effort.
Danbury was simply overwhelmed by a persistent and composed New Canaan team.
Fletcher Heron, Augusto Baldini, and Jayden Oyekanmi. Contributed
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New Canaan U10 Boys Red Defeats Danbury 7-2
The game got off to a quick start as Danbury had a direct penalty shot on goal—which proved to be the first of many saves by Will Langford who kept goal for the entire first half.
Ben Bilden’s nifty footwork put New Canaan on the scoreboard. New Canaan then got its shot at a direct penalty kick, which Connor Lytle booted in for the first of his two goals.
Alex Werner, Jack Cuda, Fletcher Heron, Jayden Oyekanmi and Max Lowe hustled up and down the field putting continuous pressure on Danbury. Augusto Baldini dribbled the ball down the field to put in New Canaan’s third goal.
Danbury rallied to score two goals. But, they were shut down the rest of the game when Henry Silva brought the ball down the line, stopped and scored a beautiful fourth goal. Langford’s left foot landed another goal evading the Danbury’s goalie any effort at a save.
Cole Wilson chipped in with the final to finish off the game to bring the final score 7-2.
Ted Werner was stout in goal throughout the second half.
Macy Owlsey of the NC U13 Girls Black team on Sept. 27, 2015. Contributed
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New Canaan U13 Girls Black Shut Down Wilton
The NC U13 Girls Black team continued its winning streak by beating Wilton 3-0 on Sunday.
Within the first five minutes, NC’s Elizabeth St. George scored. The girls continued to dominate throughout the half. Amanda Miller, Emma Ogdibene and Sarah Dicosmo were dangerous up front but were never able to find the back of the net.
In the second half, Macy Owsley scored twice. Her first developed off of a great run from defender Paige Volpe who got the ball off to Pipa Williams who delivered a great feed.
Owsley took an amazing shot, placing the ball in the lower right corner. Her second shot came from a perfect cross from St. George.
Wilton fought back throughout—however, New Canaan’s defense of Volpe, Ashlyn Neugeboren and Sophie Lagarde kept Wilton at bay. With great saves by goalies Samantha Finn and Ava Bussan, the girls celebrated their first shutout.
Angelica Megdanis takes control of the ball, leaving the Westport team behind. Kim Barton photo
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NC U-12 Girls Red Starts the Season Strong
Saturday’s first Connecticut Cup game made a perfect start for the U-12 Girls Red team’s season.
In the opening minutes of the game, Kaleigh Harden took control of the ball in the corner, drew a corner kick and sent the ball down the field to Hollis Mulry, who scored the first goal for NC.
Westport headed toward the New Canaan side but Maiah Oyekanmi disrupted the play and sent the ball down to Grace Crowell, who was able to take the shot for the second goal of the day. Kaleigh Griffiths then took a high shot, and brought the score to 3-0.
New Canaan got two more chances. Kiki Brainard took a wide shot and Mulry kicked the ball all the way across the goal. Crowell ended up with the ball and took a shot from outside the box and New Canaan picked up a goal to make it 4-0. Westport got the ball but NC’s strong defense, led by Emma Lamaker, Oyekanmi, Harden, Meghan Driscoll and Kiera Mastey, kept Westport back. Avery Minter and Griffiths kept up the attack and scored the last two goals of the game. U-12 Girls Red won 6-0.
Having just come off of their first CT Cup game win, the New Canaan U-12 Girls Red team was back on the field on Sunday against Greenwich. Attacking midfielder, Hadley Beiles, brought the ball down and Jade Lowe was able to shoot right into the goal for the 1st score. It was not long after, Caitlin Tully got the ball and shot, picking up the second goal. Greenwich cleared the ball down to New Canaan’s side, but Harden passed the ball to Crowell who then made two goals in a row, bringing the score to 4-0. The fifth remarkable goal came from Mulry. The team moved the ball around the field for the rest of the game as Tully made the last goal of the game. Between a strong defense and the goalie, Ashley Barton, they were able to keep Greenwich off the scoreboard. The U-12 Girls Red came out with a well deserved win of 6-0.
Great defense by Holden Prymas (24). Contributed
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U9 Boys White New Canaan FC Best Fairfield 2-1
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, U9 White Boys downed Fairfield 2-1 in their first away game, notching the young season’s first victory.
U9 White started with some impressive foot work and Sajan Shah made an early strike to lead the game 1-0. After White’s continued pressure on Fairfield’s goal, Alex Russey took a beautiful shot from outside the box to secure a 2-0 lead. Fairfield picked up the intensity and thanks to a combination of strong defense by Holden Prymas and diving saves by goalie Oliver Sturn, White finished the first half with a 2-0 lead.
Fairfield started the second half with renewed energy and were able to score a goal. But thanks to teamwork and communication, U9 White Boys were able to preserve their lead and win the game 2-1.
Congratulations U9 White Boys on their 1st win.
Maggie Murphy controls the ball as Kathyrn Norton looks on during New Canaan’s hard fought win over FUSA Red 1 on Sunday. Contributed
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New Canaan Girls U10 Red Edge Fairfield 2-1
New Canaan earned a hard-fought victory at home over a very tough Fairfield team this past Sunday.
From the beginning it was clear this would be a close match as both sides showcased defensive strength. The advantage early on was definitely with Fairfield as they spent a large amount of time deep in New Canaan’s end.
First half goalie Kelly Polacek had to make several excellent saves, and defenders Maggie Murphy and Devon Russell were brilliant, preventing Fairfield from getting many quality chances.
After a few thwarted drives down the field, New Canaan was finally able to break through Fairfield’s defense and get on the scoreboard. Russell stole the ball around midfield and passed up to Ava Pertusiello who connected with Lexie Tully racing up the middle. Tully got just enough space, and launched a hard shot into the high right side of the net. At no point though did Fairfield roll over, and they quickly evened the score off a corner kick that just made it over the line after a scramble in front of the net.
New Canaan stepped it up and regained the momentum as they peppered Fairfield’s goal with shots, even hitting the post on one attempt. The tie was eventually broken when Fiona Mueller placed a perfect throw-in midway inside Fairfield’s end and got it to Pertusiello near the top of the box. Pertusiello fought past a couple of defenders and delivered a line drive to the high left corner of the goal.
Looking to protect a slim one-goal lead going into the second half, New Canaan would need to be perfect at both ends of the field to come away with the win. Their main strategy seemed to be the best defense is an aggressive offense as forwards Polacek and Tully, supported by midfielders Isabel Cavanagh, Katie Quill and Tema Wagner, charged down the field again and again keeping the play in Fairfield’s end. New Canaan got close to scoring with several close range shots but was unable to find the net.
While New Canaan’s offense had the advantage for most of the second half, there were plenty of times when Fairfield could have evened the score. Defenders Lila Volpe, Kathryn Norton and Charlotte Walter worked tirelessly to disrupt multiple attacks and were successful in chasing down several breakaways that looked certain to capitalize. Fairfield was also able to put the ball on net, but second half goalie Pertusiello was dynamic and made a huge point blank save late in the game to seal the win.
Nikki Ferraro takes one from the Fairfield offense. Contributed
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New Canaan U9 Red Dominates Fairfield United 5-1
The New Canaan Red U-9 Girls soccer team extended its winning streak on Sunday with a well-executed win over the Fairfield United Soccer Association (FUSA) U9 Girls Team 2.
Kickoff may have started under slightly cool conditions, but the NC Red girls quickly dialed up the heat on Fairfield United.
After a constant barrage of offensive attacks in opening play, the NC Red girls responded to Coach Luke’s plea of “can we get a shot someone” when Madeline “Maddie” Tully stole a weak throw-in from the Fairfield keeper and punched it past her to bring NC Red up 1-0.
Paige Place and co-captain Cecilia Patterson teamed up a few minutes later to bring the score to 2-0 when the Fairfield keeper barely blocked a powerful shot from Place while Patterson tucked the ball deftly into the back of the net with a left-footed flick.
Patterson returned the favor several minutes later with a powerful corner kick to Tully who punched it out to Place through traffic, setting up her run across the goal and a beautiful shot past a surprised Fairfield keeper to bring the score to 3-0.
The NC Red defense, anchored by keeper Sydney Patten and defenders Parker Hanson, Maddy Hartnett and co-captain Lila Gizzie, kept a hungry Fairfield team scoreless through the first half.
The NC Red girls opened the second half much the way they played the first but Fairfield managed to draw blood midway through with a surprise goal bringing the score to 3-1.
Unfazed, NC Red fought back when defender Nikki Ferraro pushed a stolen ball out to Gizzie who commenced a breakaway run down the far right side of the pitch and finished with a cross-over lofter into the far left side of the net to bring the score to 4-1.
Gizzie cemented NC Red’s lead when she danced around some Fairfield defenders near goal and planted another shot in the back of the net to set the final score of 5-1.