DIVISION 3
Regent Flooring 2, Brooks Landscaping 0
Top-seeded Regent Flooring defeated number 2-seed Brooks Landscaping, 2-0, in the Division 3 boys championship game Saturday, Nov. 21, in a tight and well-played game.
The Division 3 All-Star game immediately followed the championship game. Boys were selected from each of the five HVSA recreation teams. Red All-Stars beat the Blue All-Stars, 2-0, to end the HVSA recreation season.
In the championship — the most exciting game of the season — the two top teams traded close calls throughout a tight first half. Despite chances at both ends of the field, the half ended deadlocked at zero, with great performances from Regent goalkeeper Emerson Hoagland and defensive line Benjamin Veale, Samuel Roth, Jonathan Sharma and Saahith Kusupudi.
The first goal of the game came about 10 minutes into the second half when midfielder Louis Azara, Regent’s top goal scorer this season with 22 goals, centered a pass to striker Dan Polverejan, who put it in the back of the net for his 20th goal of the season.
Later in the half, looking to secure the win, midfielder Chris Sawicki took a pass from striker Juan Carlos Perez to extend the lead to 2 – 0. That was Juan Carlos’s team-leading 14th assist of the season and Christopher’s 14th goal.
The teams had roughly equal possession times and shots on goals in this exciting matchup to end the HVSA fall soccer season.
Tsunamis U11
The Hopewell Tsunamis lost, 1-0, to the Metuchen Strikers to finish the fall season with a record of 4-3-3 in their second season in MNJYSA Flight 1 play.
The highlight of the fall was the Tsunami’s victory in the Hamilton Columbus Day tournament. Special thanks to the team for their hard work and positive attitudes. Members are Maddie Ayres, Ava Brass, Maggie Buglino, Andie Cappucci, Rory Danieluk, Mae Fesmire, Maura Graham, Kathryn McCabe, Caroline Mormile, Leah McManimon, Charlotte Tellier, Kirsten Ruf, Emma Smith and Addison Sullivan.
The Tsunamis secured a 2-2 draw against the Branchburg Twisters on Nov. 15. Ava Brass scored both goals to lead the Tsunami attack with offensive support from Maura Graham, Kathryn McCabe, Emma Smith and Caroline Mormile.
Kirsten Ruf had a tremendous day in goal and added an assist to Brass off of a booming punt. The Tsunami back line of Madison Ayres, Addie Sullivan, Rory Danieluk and Mae Fesmire held Branchburg in check. Andie Cappucci, Maggie Buglino and Leah McManimon controlled the middle of the field for the Tsunamis.
The Boys U10 Riptides closed out an undefeated fall season as the champions of their flight with a 2-1 win over Lawrence.
Kieran Karp and Brandon Napoleon scored the Riptide goals. Rex Peters and Lukas Ansari were outstanding on defense in front of goalies Will Stover and Matthew Whitlock. Cameron Velez, Alex Romano, Garrett Wille, Charlie Stocks-Natalias and Daniel Golian helped the Riptides control the midfield while Christian Mayer created offensive chances.
Hurricanes U14
The Hopewell Valley U14G Hurricanes wrapped up their fall JAGS Premier flight season with two home games this weekend.
On Saturday the Hurricanes and TBAA Premier Strykers played to a 1-1 draw. Julia Alito got the Hurricanes on the board with a curling corner kick score in the first half.
TBAA pulled even with a goal just before halftime. The physical match stayed deadlocked in the second half, with the Hurricanes generating lots of offensive pressure behind Julia Peters, Fiona McCaffrey, Molly Rhoads, Kerry Buglino, Anna Neal, Jolene Evich, Charlotte Hare, and Ellie Hawkey. Maddie Schrader earned the second-half clean sheet with several gutsy saves, behind a stout defensive effort led by Carly Sison, Anna Cappucci, Chloe Mummert, Emily Cooke, Adelinne Danieluk and Kate Allen.
The Hurricanes lost their final game of the season Sunday against first-place Haddonfield SC Lightning, 3-0, giving up a late first-half goal on a scramble in the box. After several near-miss opportunities to tie the score, they gave up a goal in transition with less than five minutes to play and another goal as time expired.
The Hurricanes finished third in the top JAGS flight with a record of 4-1-3.
Heat U12
The Heat finished the season in first place of Flight 1 (record 9-1-0) with a commanding win over Cougar Soccer Club at home, 2 – 0, on Sunday, Nov. 22.
Goals were scored by Lara Paoloni and Ella Zimmerman. Goalies Sarah Yancey and Gillian Lee were impenetrable as always; they finished the season allowing two goals for the season.
The offense topped the charts as well by scoring a total of 22 goals for the season.
At Sunday’s game, the front line was Mea Allex, Samantha Shaw, Ayla Mauk, Lee and Yancey, supported by Zimmerman. Midfielders were Anna Gill, Diana Benford, Sydney Isaacson, Paoloni, Katie Tillman, Ellie Hill and Sofia Venezia. The defense included Zimmerman, Erin Popik, Adele Cappucci and Emily Neal.
Lightning U8
The HVSA U8B Lightning Team ended the season Saturday with another win, securing a season of nine wins, one tie and no losses.
Scoring the only goal was Dylan Napoleon. Not yet eight years old, Dylan has incredible speed that is well matched with the compassion he shows his teammates and opponents alike.
This weekend the team was up against Rahway U8B in what proved to be a game of pushing back and racing forward. Goalies Kyle Yadamiec and Ethan Nau were aggressively involved, holding off the well-organized opponents. Both goalies have an eagle eye, quick moves and the high kicks that have helped the team win this season.
Unlike earlier in the season, coaches Jeffrey Nau and Brian Whitlock have transitioned the boys into teams of offense and defense. Players like Tyler Yadamiec, John Jaihan and Jeremy Siegelheim used their defensive skills to capture the ball and punt it down the line. Many times this Saturday it was their skill of punting that prevented the other team from scoring a goal.
Dylan Napoleon, Gavin McCaffrey, Jackson Sub, Ty Becker and Michael Whitlock were quick to capture the ball in play and keep Rahway on its toes.
Noah Rodriguez, Logan Gonsalves and Eshaan Doshi fought tough one-on-one plays to stop the Rahway from scoring. Known for his reversals, Eshaan makes it look easy to run backwards to retrieve and reverse the ball.
It was a great final game of teamwork, lightning footwork, and skill.
Thunder U14
The HVSA U14 Thunder boys soccer team finished their fall season with a hard-fought and well-played 1-1 tie.
The Jaguars got on the board first with a successful fast-break goal. The Thunder quickly re-grouped and responded with a goal of their own. Alek Michelson drilled a hard shot at the goalie. Several Thunder players charged in for the rebound. Eventually Rehan Yadav knocked one of the deflections into the goal to tie the score.
Each team continued its offensive pressure. The Thunder got great passing and more strong shots on goal from Zach Achenbach, James McLaughlin, Luke McManimon, Anand Wetzel, Collin Havens, Sean Lawton, Dylan LeRay and Derek Maggion.
Defense ruled the remainder of the game, anchored once again by strong play of goalie Liam May. Supporting May on defense with key clears were Justin Lauricella, Sid Dhar, Marcus Christensen, Ryan Balog, Austin Nemec and Alex Javick.
With only a few minutes left in the game, the Thunder had one last shot to break the tie. A corner penalty kick by Alek Michelson found McManimon in the center of the goal box for a near-perfect header that just missed. It was a dramatic end to a well-played game and fall season for the Thunder.