Tewksbury Girls Go 1-1-1 in Holiday Tournament

(Editor's note: The following information was submitted by the coaches adn administration of the Tewksbury Youth Soccer program.)

Memorial Day Weekend in New Hampshire

The Tewksbury GU14-2 team (with some help from the GU14-1 & GU14-3) traveled north for the Holiday weekend to Amherst NH for a Memorial Day Tournament.

Game #1 Saturday May 28^th at 8:00 AM vs  Amherst New Hampshire SC

The Tewksbury Girls looking festive in the red white and blue, complete with top hats took to the field against the host team to kick off the weekend.  In a clear indication of what the competition was like for the entire weekend the girls lost a tough 1-0 battle to the hosts.

This game was highlighted by some great goalkeeping by Janina Kennedy and two teams that played to a standstill except for one bouncing ball that found its way into the Tewksbury net.

The forwards of Emily Velozo, Michelle Farraher, Megan Lavino and Brittany Fletcher supplied the locals with plenty of opportunity in this game but they could not crack the tough opposing keeper.  The midfielders of Caitlyn Leary, Aria Porzio, Hillary Fletcher, Hannah Silvia, Ashley Figucia and Karah Chaisson pressured the ball the entire game.  The defense of Haley Aznavoorian, Darien Lavino, Nicole Malfa & Taylor Donahoe (coming off a knee injury) was outstanding in this battle with Velozo also logging some minutes on defense.

The Tewksbury girls despite the travel (leaving at about 6AM) were clearly the aggressors in this game and were gaining momentum as the game wore on.

Game#2 Saturday May 28^th at 1:00 PM vs Milford New Hampshire SC

In another closely fought battle the Tewksbury Girls were determined not to lose another one and won 1-0.

Brittany Fletcher made sure that the locals would not lose another tough game and blasted it by the Milford Keeper for the games only score.

In this game the offense was relentless, scoring opportunites by Karah Chaisson, Hannah Silvia, Ashley Figucia, Caitlyn Leary, Hillary Fletcher and Aria Porzio all missed the mark but it didn’t stop the pressure.  Emily Velozo, Michelle Farraher, Janina Kennedy & Megan Lavino were all over the opponents end during the entire game.

This game was highlighted by some great goalkeeping by Janina Kennedy and two teams that played to a standstill except for one bouncing ball that found its way into the Tewksbury net.

The defense led by Darien Lavino, Nicole Malfa, Haley Aznavoorian, & Taylor Donahoe was again outstanding in this battle.  The defense made it clear that a goal was not going to be scored against them in this one.

Michelle Farraher and Janina Kennedy split the goal keeping and recorded the shut-out for the locals.

Game#3 Sunday May 28^th at 11:45 vs Hampton NH FC

This game was the game of the weekend, a hard fought match in the heat that ended in a 3-3 tie.

Although the girls took the field ready to play, the game and the officiating took some funny bounces and the girls were quickly down 2-0 against a very good team.

The locals decided at that point that they were simply not going to give in.  With about 10 minutes left in the first half Aria Porzio drilled a loose ball by the keeper to make it 2-1.  Then perhaps the play of the tournament was made by Hillary Fletcher chasing down a breakaway after our defender had got knocked down and stopping a strong goal bid, then finding Porzio, who sent it to Michelle Farraher who made the prettiest of passes to a streaking Emily Velozo who blasted it into the net for a 2-2 tie at half time.

The second half showed that the Tewksbury Girls had now taken control of this game and the pressure being applied at the offensive end by the mids of Caitlyn Leary, Karah Chaisson, Hannah Silvia, Ashley Figucia and Hillary Fletcher was immense. The forwards led by Megan Lavino and Brittany Fletcher were attacking everything. Then in another strange bounce the opposing team scored a goal on a ball that hit both posts to make it 3-2.

The defense that had been awesome all day then decided to get into the mix sending a ball down the field in which the Tewksbury forwards and mids converged on in a frenzy until finally Velozo found the back of the next with it.

Going the distance in the heat on defense in this one was Darien Lavino, Nicole Malfa and Haley Aznavoorian who were simply incredible together.  Taylor Donahue showed guts and determination playing on a knee that was clearly hurting.

Janina Kennedy was solid in goal consistently punting the locals out of trouble.