New Canaan Girls Score Nail-Biting 4-2 Come-From-Behind Triumph Over Darien
—submitted by Robyn Peterson
New Canaan Girls ’08 Black team
Off to a rocky start on Sunday, the New Canaan Girls ’08 Black team fell behind early by two goals against archrival Darien. But as the sun set on the field at Cherry Lawn, the New Canaan team caught their second wind and scored four unanswered goals to take the come-from-behind win.
Shortly after the game began, Darien punched in two quick goals to jump ahead and usher in fears of a shutout. Just before the end of the first half, the New Canaan team saw a glimmer of hope as Larkin Celiberti rushed past the Darien defense to put the New Canaan team on the scoreboard just before heading off to the sidelines.
Whatever Coach Maegen Doyle said to these kids during her halftime pep talk we may never know, but it sparked a fire that lit this team into a fireball.
Shortly after retaking the field, Celiberti broke free of the Darien defenders and knocked in the equalizing goal. Next up, Leah Zheng punched a shot into the corner of the net giving New Canaan their first lead of the game.
Darien fought back with a series of harrowing attacks, thwarted by the amazing goalkeeping of Emma Prior, who shut out the Darien offense all half.
Finally, Lindsay Hanlon leaped out from midfield and raced to the Darien net to score the clinching goal, locking in a New Canaan win with the final score of 4-2.
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New Canaan Boys 2007 Red in Red from left to right Rogan Lowe, William Arnold and Jackson Mountford. Contributed
NCFC ’07 Boys Red Victorious Over Weston Blue in Pressure-Packed Match
—submitted by Ed Ho
Summer temperatures in the middle of October? Well, we all know from our favorite weather outlets that the balmy conditions we’re all enjoying are a result of a huge high-pressure system lingering over the Northeast.
Metaphorically speaking, two evenly matched sides exerted their own brand of high pressure throughout the ’07 NCFC Boys Red’s match versus Weston Blue on Sunday. “We played our best half of the season in the 1H…. we applied the pressure,” according to Coach Dan Clark.
The New Canaan boys sure did.
Rogan Lowe and Dylan Ho drew first blood in a brilliant display of passing and goal scoring. Rowe spotted Ho open on the left wing and delivered a beautiful leading pass; with a few deft touches, Ho weaved his way towards the goal and chipped over the Weston keeper’s head into the upper right corner for the opening goal. Rowe continued his aggressive, attacking style of play and shortly after delivered a powerful strike from outside the box into the back of the net to widen New Canaan’s lead to 2-0. William Arnold, pictured above, delivered a key goal late in the first half as he somehow managed to put it past a wall of Weston defenders to widen New Canaan’s lead to 3-0.
Just as at the splendid conditions we’re enjoying will fade once a different kind of pressure system rolls in, we saw Weston turn the match completely in their favor by a shrewd change of strategy by their coach. “In the 2H, a talented Weston team came to play…they put enormous pressure on each of our goal kicks,” according to Coach Dan. Spot on Coach, as New Canaan’s failure to clear on goal kicks nearly cost them the match. The pressure Weston Blue exerted resulted in at least five goal scoring opportunities. Weston converted on two of those situations, and if not for the goal post on two Weston shots and a game winning save by William Arnold in the closing minutes, the three points that the New Canaan Red Boys eventually earned would have been in jeopardy.
3-2 to NCFC as the final whistle blew. “I love this time of year,” aptly declared by NCFC soccer Mom Stacey Walker. Right on Stacy – and this glorious Autumn weather is even more delightful when our NCFC Boys are victorious.
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New Canaan’s Mighty Reds U10 Girls Soccer Continues Winning Streak by Defeating Westport 4-1
—submitted by Lisa Riley
On Sunday, October 16th, the New Canaan Girls U10 Mighty Reds continued on their winning streak beating Westport 4-1. From the early minutes of play, the Mighty Red’s spent the majority of the game in offensive mode with Reece Quinn scoring the first of her two game-day goals 5 minutes into play. Co-captains Julia McPhillips and Georgie Owsley made sure the team stayed motivated throughout the game by encouraging everyone on the field. Maddie Tully with her first of her two game-day goals finished out the half with New Canaan leading 2-0.
The Mighty Reds returned to the second half even stronger with great offensive play by Tessa Riley, Sydney Patten and Eleanor duPont. Maddie Tully and Reece Quinn scored their second goals each bringing New Canaan’s lead to 4-0. Westport rallied back and scored a high left goal into the net. Great defense by Christina Swarni. Paige Place and Maddie Hartnett kept Westport scoring another goal. The Mighty Reds finished the game 4-1. Go Mighty Reds.
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NC Girls U12 Black Defeats Darien White 5-0
—submitted by Mike Mottolese
After a tough tournament last weekend where the girls’ spirits were dampened in the cold wind and rain, the NC Girls Black team desperately needed a win. Unfortunately for The Darien White team, the win came at their expense.
New Canaan took control early when forward Peyton Franz spotted Delaney Hoey and she drove one into the net from near the top of the goalie box. Reagan Bailey and Reagan Quinn successfully worked the ball up the sides all game, but paying off in a goal by Rory McCarthy who followed her own rebound after the goalie let it bounce off her hands to make it 2-0.
KK Mottolese and Ava Dunn covered midfield ably and managed to push the ball the ball into Darien’s zone to Jocelyn Riley who shot but couldn’t find an opening, but Kelly Marchiony scooped up the loose ball and scored with a better angle. Late in the first half Alex Gelvin, aided by Paxton Beladino, muscled the ball free from a pack of defenders, only to face the keeper head on, but Gelvin cleverly drove it into the right side of the net to make it 4-0.
New Canaan seemed to take their foot off the gas in the second half, yet McCarthy was able to find Abby Richardson close to the goal, who then blasted it in to seal it at 5-0. Goalkeeper Emily Fox again showed confidence in the nets, handling anything that came her way. Natalie Plosker continued to make her presence known on defense with a number of blasts keeping her opponents out of her zone.