The Hopewell Valley Soccer Association’s U10 Riptides started their season with a strong showing in the South Brunswick tournament, going 4-0 to win the championship. The Riptide outscored its opponents by a combined 24-1, posting three shutouts. Goals came from Matthew Whitlock (4), Brandon Napoleon (4), Daniel Golian (3), Kieran Karp (3), Lukas Ansari (2), Christian Mayer (2), Charlie Stocks-Natalias (2), Garrett Wille, Rex Peters, Alex Romano, and Cameron Velez. Assists were provided by Wille (4), Mayer (3), Napoleon (2), Velez (2), Golian (2), Ansari (2), Karp (2), Stocks-Natalias and Peters. Will Stover also created several offensive chances for the Riptides.
The U14 Thunder got the fall season off to a strong start, going 1-0-3 and finishing second in their division and tied for third overall in last weekend’s Bridgewater Kick-Off Classic.
Defense keyed the Thunder, led by Liam May’s outstanding goalie play and strong support from Justin Lauricella, Sid Dhar, Luke McManimon, Marcus Christensen, Austin Nemec and newcomers Ryan Balog, Matthew Young, Anand Wetzel and Alex Javick. The Thunder allowed just two goals. Leading the offense were Alek Michelson, James McLaughlin, Sean Lawton, Collin Havens, Rehan Yadav and newcomers Dylan LeRay, Derek Maggion and Zach Achenbach.
McLaughlin headed in a cross from Michelson in a 1-1 tie with FC Berma. That was followed by a 1-0 win over the Bridgewater Sounders, as Achenbach converted a penalty kick. That was followed by a scoreless tie against FC Verona and a 1-1 tie with US Palma Stallone in which Michelson scored the Thunder goal of an assist by McManimon.
The U14 Hurricanes opened with a second place finish in their bracket of the South Brunswick kickoff tournament. After losing to NLSA Fusion, 2-0, Hopewell rebounded with a 4-1 win over the Union SC Lady Vipers on goals from Adelinne Danieluk, Julia Peters, Ellie Hawkey and Fiona McCaffrey. On Sunday morning the ‘Canes topped the Bloomfield Soccer Power, 5-0, as Peters had a hat trick while Hawkey and McCaffrey also tallied. Kate Allen and Maddie Schrader combined for the shutout in goal. In a rematch with NLSA Fusion, the Hurricanes dropped a 1-0 decision.
The U-11 Tsunami went 2-1-1 in the BSA Kickoff Classic. Hopewell defeated Montclair United, 1-0, and West Morris SC Premier, 2-0, as Ava Brass scored all three goals and Andie Cappucci assisted on two of them. On Sunday, the Tsunamis fell to the Branchburg Twisters, and tied host Bridgewater SA Barca, 1-1, on a goal by Kathryn McCabe in the closing seconds.
Tsunami goalies Kirsten Ruf, Addie Sullivan, Leah McManimon and Cappucci combined for two clean sheets. The defense was led by Maddie Ayres, Sullivan, and Mae Fesmire, while midfield support came from Rory Danieluk, Maggie Buglino, Charlotte Tellier and Emma Smith. The offense got help from Caroline Mormile, Maura Graham and Emma Smith created additional scoring opportunities for the Tsunami offense.
The U10 Sun Dogs went 3-1 in the South Brunswick Tournament, opening with a 4-1 win over Princeton. Casey von Oehsen had a hat trick and Gillian Magner also scored. Kennedy Havens supplied excellent goalkeeping in a 2-1 loss to the Monmouth United, as Gillian Magner posted the Sun Dogs goal.
On Sunday, the Sun Dogs topped North Brunswick and West Windsor-Plainsboro by 6-0 scores. Against NB, von Oehsen had another hat trick, while Magner, Chloe Johnson and Emme Muller also scored. Against WWP, Magner exploded for six goals, while Ellie Lamond and Julie Somers also scored.
Key defensive support was provided throughout by Katie Yancey, Madelyn Patterson, Ana Chrnelich and Frankie Somers. Supporting the offense was Alexa Marino. Newcomer Havens allowed just two goals for the entire weekend. Returning for another year are Ana Chrnelich, Johnson, Lamond, Magner, Alexa Marino, Frankie and Julie Somers, von Oehsen, and Katie Yancey. Newcomers are Havens, defender Madelyn Patterson and midfielder Muller.
The U-12B Avalanche went undefeated to win the Bridgewater Kick-Off Classic Tournament, defeating the Franklin Township Cosmos (8-3), U.S Parma Atletico (6-2), FC Berna Mustangs (4-2) and the Westfield Timbers (6-1). Multiple goals were scored by Patrick Capstack, Dean DiGiacomo, Lucas Gaissert, Max Johnson, Andrew Neal, Connor Plarre and Alex Tagliareni. Defenders Kyle Beveridge, Nick Tagliareni, Ben Thompson and Garrett Zimmermann created a nearly unstoppable wall, with strong goalkeeping by Sam Neal and Paul Warznak.
