PHOTOS BY FARRAH MAFFAI staff Above, Allentown’s Mic Sowa heads the ball past Howell’s Edward Eldridge during the Allentown Red Storm’s championship game win on Saturday in Allentown. At right, the Storm’s Dean Search uses his head to move the ball up field. The Allentown Attack U10 boys travel soccer team wrapped up its fall season this past week with two games.
The Attack defeated the Toms River Shockwave by the score of 2-0 in a hard-fought match under the lights in Toms River. Steven Hensley scored the first goal for Allentown after the Shockwaves’ defense had held fast against Allentown’s relentless pressure the entire first half. Anthony Derisis added the important insurance goal to secure the victory for Allentown.
Allentown was back on the field the next night in another away night game against the Twin County Pythons. The game was a very hard-fought contest as Allentown applied tremendous pressure throughout the contest, but the Pythons’ defense held fast. The Pythons scored on a penalty kick midway through the first half to take the lead. Allentown poured on the pressure trying to tie up the game. Twin County’s goalie made numerous key saves, thwarting Allentown’s offensive pressure. Twin County broke through on a quick transition to score a second goal with only a few minutes to go in the contest. The game ended with Twin County on top 2-0. Allentown’s defense led by Ryan Darrell, Jake Calvitti, Evan Byrnes, Nicholas Miles and Cameron Mory played extremely well throughout the match.
Howell’s Julian Berrior tries to take the ball from Allentown’s Josh Howell during Saturday’s action. The Attack finished the season with an overall record of 11-1, as they finished in first place in the premier division of Jersey Coast for the second straight season. Nathaniel Marquez had a strong year in the nets for the Attack. The entire squad had a very strong fall campaign. The balance of the Attack’s roster is Russell Nicholson, Alec Scarano, Justin Patrylow, Patrick McCarthy, Patrick Dawes and Alexander Valentino. The team is coached by Chuck Darrell, Martin and Jody Scarano, and Bob Nicholson.
The Allentown Red Storm, a U14 boys travel soccer team, completed its fall campaign this past Saturday as well. They faced off against the Howell Sports Academy Royal in a battle for first place and came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory to finish undefeated with a 10-0 record in Jersey Coast.
Josh Howell got Allentown on the board first as he found the back of the net with a headball off a well-placed corner kick. Dean Search added the second goal for the Red Storm, as he drilled a high shot into the net from 18 yards out. Alex Fortsch played a strong game in the nets for Allentown. The front line of Connor Darrell and Mic Sowa kept the pressure on Howell throughout the match. The strong midfield play of Search, Howell, Kelsey Glover and Matt Frein was key to Allentown’s offensive dominance. The defense was led by Danny Santos, Jarrett Kunze, Bryan Pope and Kevin Bux. Charlie Nicholls and Joe Joans rounded out the Allentown squad, which put on a strong performance to secure the victory. Allentown is coached by Chuck Darrell, Garry Wittholt, Curt Bux, Paul Frein and Alan Nicholls
On Sunday, the UFA 40 were involved in a tough match away at Howell at Oak Glen Park. UFA took an early lead when the Howell goalie could not hold onto a strong shot from Adam Klubicista, and Larry Kaplan was on hand to knock in the rebound. From there the game see-sawed with fast end-to-end play. UFA’s overall defensive strength prevailed as the team went on to win 5-3. Kaplan had a very strong game (completing his hat trick) as did goalkeeper Martin Scarano, who was called upon several times to make key saves. Amaro Pereira, playing only his second game for the senior team, looked like a veteran in midfield as he helped to control play. Next week UFA 40 are at home to Little Silver at 9 a.m. at the Mark Harbourt Soccer Complex.