Last weekend, the Hopewell Valley Soccer Association invited players of all ages and skill levels to start the Fall 2016 season.
The following is a submitted collection of the weekend’s results.
Division 3 Boys
Displaying a well-balanced performance and excellent passing skills, Stellitano blanked Ewing 2 by a score of 10-0.
Scoring two goals each were Richie Keifer, Eddie Keifer, Mike Kennedy and Larry Kennedy. Finn Murray-Campbell and Andrew Sagotsky netted one goal each to round out the scoring.
Vitor Fontes Nichi dominated the midfield throughout the match. The defense was controlled by centerback Ben Licciardi, and shutdown on the wings by Oliver Licciardi and Teddy Franzino.
Bryce Meccage made some tough saves in goal, leading to a clean sheet and Stellitano’s first victory.
In a hard fought victory on Sat., Sept. 10, DeSimone Orthodontics beat Jack’s Nursery & Landscaping by a final score of 2-1.
Louis Azara dominated the midfield throughout the game, and scored both of the team’s goals. Additionally, aggressive defensive play from Herbert Carr in goal, and Dylan Drift and Emiliano Fernandez in the field contributed significantly to the victory. The offense maintained a consistent time of possession with good ball control from Joshua Kohlhepp and Jackson Pfau.
For Jack’s Nursery & Landscaping, David Sigman answered with a nice goal late in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to one.
In the first ICL game of the season, DiSimone Orthodontics made a strong showing on offense and on defense, defeating Ewing 1 by a score of 3-0 on Sunday.
Emerson Hoagland was locked in during the first half, and scored two goals to put his team ahead. Louis Azara added an insurance goal in the second half to make it 3-0. Solid play by Michael Stroman, Bradley Cohen, and Michael Moran helped to keep constant pressure on offense throughout the game. The midfield was controlled, and time of possession maintained, by many strong defensive plays by Aaron Nulman, Jacob Brown and Colin Szustakowski.
Sourland Cycles lost Saturday to Carnegie Cat Clinic in a 4-0 shutout. It was the first game of the season and the heat was brutal. The team fought hard and kept their spirits high.
Sunday, the Sourland Cycles won 6-1 against Millstone.
Colin Hunter was goalkeeper first half and deflected multiple goal attempts. Cutter Swanson scored Sourland’s first goal, with assistance by Sathya Kummarapurugu. He later scored a second goal before the end of the second half.
Sourland Cycles had a strong defense, including efforts by Alexander Scott, Finn Malloy and Hunter Boggess.
During the second half, Fedia Tenbarge scored 4 goals with assists from Hugo Butler, Colin Hunter and Daniel Teodorescu. Cutter Swanson was goalkeeper during the second half.
Division 3 Girls
The D3 Dahlia Florals Pink Panthers began their season with a 3-3 tie in their first game Saturday against Jack’s Nursery & Landscaping.
JGN’s offense struck first in the first quarter when Katie Clarke found the back of the net, assisted by Zoe Dec and Anna Gabe. The team later opened the lead to two goals when Natalie Kasprzyk received a pass from Tessa Caputo and scored.
Dahlia’s players rallied behind Taylor Wert and assisted her in scoring two back-to-back goals. Still in the first half, with the score tied at two goals apiece, Jack’s Zoe Dec sped past Dahlia’s defenders and scored, giving her team a 3-2 lead to end the first half.
The second half was a defensive battle, with the only goal being scored by Ayla Mauk and assisted by Ellie Lamond to even things up.
Emily Howe made five saves as goalie and Mariel Haynes was very strong on defense.
The D3 Dahlia Florals Pink Panther girls won their second game 2-0 against Robbinsville on Sunday, with goals by Ayla Mauk and Taylor Wert.
Catherine Zeglarsky and Rose Andreski both played strong defense.
The Hopewell Express Green D3 girls team, also known as the self-proclaimed “Hopewell Express Zombies,” played their first game of the fall on Saturday in a friendly match against the Ewing-1 team.
The Ewing girls played with a lot of heart, but the Zombies moved the ball well and seemed to be doing exactly what they were supposed be doing, exactly when they were supposed to be doing it.
The Zombies won the match with a final score of 8-2, with goals from Payton Tuorto (4), Emily Sawicki (3), and Beth Hooks (1). The whole team took turns playing both sides of the field well, but Charlotte Catlett and Makayla Scherbekow led Maddy Flory and Evelyn Lansing in a defense that just couldn’t be broken.
On Sunday, the Zombies played against the HVSA Royal Blue team. It was a tough battle between two pretty evenly matched teams.
The Zombies were able to hold a 2-1 lead for much of the game, but having no substitutes eventually wore them down, and the Royal Blue were able to score 2 goals late to win the game 3-2.
Goal scorers for Hopewell Express were Payton Tuorto and Emily Sawicki, and Mikayla Scherbekow, who played goal for the whole game, did a great job for the Zombies keeping it to a 1-goal loss.
Division 2 Boys
Greenleaf Landscaping played and bested Pennington Quality Market on Saturday, with a score of 4-2.
Jack Gabe led the way with three goals, with one on a penalty kick, while Noah Pashman played a strong striker and also scored a goal. Shane Sullivan played a tough center back, keeping the opposing team at bay.
In goal, Joseph Troiano, Jack Gabe, Shane Sullivan and Noah Pashman worked together to keep PQM to just two goals.
On Sunday, Greenleaf Landscaping fought a hard battle against J&V Trophies, ending in a 3-3 tie. Jack Gabe led the way again for Greenleaf with two goals, while also playing a strong goalie in the second quarter. Noah Pashman added a goal for the second day in a row, while working as goalkeeper in the final quarter. Colin McCullough and Luke Rodefeld worked well together at midfield, helping the defense and offense throughout the game. Both were critically important in keeping J&V at bay.
Union Line Garage shut out the J&V Trophies on Saturday.
Despite the warm weather, the ULG was able to keep up its offensive play, ultimately scoring three goals on the day.
The following day, Union Line Garage and Pennington Quality Market met at Independence Park and played an exciting game.
Led by Owen Wemple, Elijah Barnes, Jason Laliwala, Nigel Rodrigues and Tyler Ananian, ULG aggressively chased and dribbled the ball to make several commendable attempts at the goal, however Pennington Quality Market’s offense dominated the game.
Evan Katzenbach led defense for Union Line Garage, supported by Roman Scaturro, Nathan Edgington, Justin Edgington, Cooper Wiley and Nick Lautermilch.
Pennington Quality Market won with a score of 5-0.
Division 2 Girls
The Red Lions roared to a 3-1 victory over the McDonough Live Wires on Saturday.
Ava Courtney scored three goals, while Grace Sullivan and Shreya Mookherjee played outstanding defense. With zero goals scored by either team after two quarters, the Red Lions offense came alive in the second half.
Goalkeeper Bridget Holden made some great saves to preserve the win.
The following day, the Red Lions defeated Purtuc Dental Sunday with a final score of 3-2.
Ava Courtney had another hat trick as Eve Szeliga assisted on one of her goals. Gerise Kelly and Rosemary Stout played very aggressive offense which led to Courtney scoring her three goals.
On defense, Grace Sullivan was stout once again and goalkeeper Bridget Holden made some huge saves, while Elizabeth Myers and Lila Petropoulos helped the Red Lions hold Purtuc Dental from scoring for most of the game. Purtuc Dental scored late in the fourth quarter to make this a nail biter.
HVS TRAVEL
U12 Girls
The U12 Blaze started off their season with a 2-1-1 record to finish second in the Bridgewater Kick-Off Classic Tournament last weekend.
Facing FC Berna on Saturday, Caileigh Ross put in a goal with an assist from Julie Somers to tie 1-1. Ava D’Alessandro, Casey von Oehsen and Naomi Dede pressured on attack while Emme Muller, Gillian Magner, Charlotte Kavanaugh and Emma Coyer played strong midfield.
Taking on a physical Hazlet team next, Julie stuck a shot in goal for a 1-0 win. The Blaze defense earned a solid shut-out thanks to Julianna Silva, Sarah Javick, Charlotte Tellier and Brooke Hutchison with excellent play from goalie, Christina Zelin.
Sunday, Casey von Oehsen scored once and Emme Muller fired twice for a 3-2 win over Millburn. In their final game, Casey sent an assist to Caileigh Ross who scored the lone goal in a tough loss versus Arsenal.
U13 Girls
The Hopewell Heat had a strong showing in their first outing of the fall, finishing second overall in the South Brunswick Kick Off Tournament. They logged two wins against West Windsor (6-0) and Cranbury (6-0), one loss against the Hibernians Crush (1-2) and tied against Next Level Soccer 2004 (1-1).
Goals were scored by: Sofia Venezia (4), Sarah Yancey (1), Samantha Shaw (3), Erin Popik (1), Eva Guerino (3), Megan Gordon (1) and Devin Mullowney (1). Katie Tillman had 4 assists.
The Heat defense only gave up three goals in four games. Protecting the Heat back and midfield were Ella Zimmerman, Ellie Hill, Emily Neal, Anna Gill, Adele Cappucci and Diana Benford. Goalies Gillian Lee and Sarah Yancey only allowed 3 goals.
