The Millstone United U-10 boys made their mamas proud this past Mother’s Day with a much-needed win at Stinger stadium. With a 4-0 victory over the Middletown Freedom, the Stingers held on to a third-place standing within MOSA’s elite Premier division.
Coaches Bryan Walkley and Brian Bednarz echoed the words of “no quitting on the ball” and the need to “play smart” at this level of competition. Squaring off on a dry pitch with a stiff wind, both teams played an evenly matched game for most of the first half. Sharing defensive duty in the backfield were David Cifelli and Jordan Herzog; they shadowed all offensive play within the wings, while allowing no midfield penetrations. Mixing it up as both defensive fullbacks and offensive midfielders were Justin Paglia and Zach Reutsch; they denied any sharp crosses or hard runs with the ball. The Stinger “Wall” was flawless in both its zonal defense and attack, allowing for zero goals against Millstone United.
The Stingers’ offensive game stepped up big time with their well-honed give-and-go’s and through-balls. Scrambling the defense on the front end were power forwards Conor Murphy and Jack Giglia. After numerous shots on goal and only five minutes left in the first half, midfielder Nick Sample snuck in and tucked a tight shot within the bottom of the net.
The Stingers found their rhythm in the second half, when striker Connor Bednarz got in behind the defender on a breakaway, and broke in alone to rocket an upper 90 for the team’s second goal. Power forwards Kevin Towle, Nick Pritchard and Paul Haines opened up ample shooting opportunities with their tight, physical play on the outside. Midfielder Nick Sample came up again when he scored the team’s third goal with a cracked shot outside of the 18. Midfielder Bryan Walkley came in with the final knot on the rope when he launched a shot high and wide to the far post, finding the lucky corner pocket.
Keepers Nick Sample and Jack Giglia had a combined shutout; their magnetic fingertip catches and fearless hard charges out of the cage restrained the Freedom to a collective shutout.
The Stingers play their next game away against the Freehold Storm. The team will be returning again this year to play in the annual Manalapan Memorial Day Tournament.
The UFA40 were away on Mother’s Day to Howell United. With several players out due to injuries and other commitments, player-manager Alan Nicholls was hoping his depleted squad would at least be competitive against a younger Howell team. Unfortunately, after just 20 minutes it looked like it was going to be a long day. UFA found themselves 2-0 down after two poor defensive errors allowed the Howell strikers to go ahead – this despite the fact that UFA were moving the ball around at ease, with a series of sharp passes and great ball control. Luckily nobody panicked, and it was Amaro Pereira who would pull one back after receiving a fine through on the edge of the box. He controlled it on the fly and raced in and netted with a clinical finish, leaving the home keeper no chance. Then, just before halftime, UFA won a corner, quickly taken by Mike Leyden. It was driven into the box, back-heeled by Peter Tatninov, and Pereira was there again to lash home a strong shot to tie up the game going into the break.
The second half resumed with UFA knowing they had the edge on skill over a very physical Howell team. Unfortunately, they had not counted on “gifting” the home team another goal. In the 70th minute, Didier Mory handled in the area, and the home team again took the lead from the ensuing penalty. After that, the game started to go downhill, and several yellow cards were shown as tempers flared on both sides. With just minutes to go, Dan Caruso connected spectacularly with a flick-on by Pereira; he one-timed the ball into the back of the net to level the score, and maintain UFA’s unbeaten streak. Footnote; Interestingly enough, as Amaro Pereira was busy pulling his team back into the game in Howell, scoring two goals in the 3-3 tie, his son Kevin was busy himself, scoring two goals for Allentown Extreme in their 3-3 tie with Tom’s River. Quite a goalscoring race going on in the Pereira household.
The Upper Freehold/Allentown Travel Soccer Association will hold tryouts for a variety of boys and girls teams ages U9 through U16, beginning Saturday at the Mark Harbourt Soccer Complex. For more details, go to ufasoccer.com.
On May 9, the third/fourth-grade Dragons lacrosse team met with a powerful Millstone squad in a rematch game at the Millstone home turf. Millstone got off with a quick start again and scored the first point off a bounce shot. Under the direction of goalie Anthony Murphy and with the help of a strong defense. The Dragons pushed forward and started keeping the ball in the offensive end. Outstanding efforts by Lou Campanella at face off with a 75 percent win ratio, one goal and five ground balls. Cris Masserini helped the team with two goals, six ground balls and two take-aways. Jake Morse continued to apply aggressive pressure, winning 10 ground balls and adding an additional point for the Dragons. Troy Wittholt added one goal as well, which left the final score at 6-1. The two teams will meet each other again on May 16 in Millstone for another memorable match between these neighboring towns.
On May 12, the third/fourth-grade Dragons attended the Medford Tourney and fought against teams from Wilmington, Cherry Hill and West Deptford. The competition was fierce, and all the games were very close. The team had an average of 15 ground balls per game and stood defensively against the best the opponents had to throw their way. Matt Salko, Eric and Connor Sullivan and Will Fiordland adjusted with the two rookie goalies well and provided the needed protection and minimized the shots on goal. Cris Masserini and Troy Wittholt shared the goal tending duties with 24 saves combined. For the day, Lou Campanella and Dakota Wocjik had one goal each and Troy earned the hat trick. The Dragons left with a 1-2 record for the tourney.
The Dragons fifth/sixth-grade lacrosse team took on Lawrence Township on May 12 at Byron Johnson Park in Upper Freehold Township. Rookie goalie Kyle Sulit, playing his first game ever between the pipes, came up with a remarkable 12 saves and was part of 11 successful clears, leading his team to a 9-5 victory. A pair of goals each was scored by Mitch Lamb and Paul LoBue. A goal each was scored by Jess Manyoky, Trevor Sullivan, John Bardwil, Matt Reed and Brandon Tornquist. Wyatt Million and Brandon Tornquist had two assists each. The defense of Brian Foley, Jay Kloskowski and Tom O’Shaughnessy played tough and helped their team win 31 ground balls on the day.
The Dragons fifth/sixth-graders are away on Saturday at the annual Hopewell Valley Invitational Tournament.