Youth Soccer Roundup: Girls U13-1 Places Second In Tournament

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

GU12-5             Tewksbury 1            vs. Hanscom 3

Alexis Nichols scored the only Tewksbury goal with a great kick in the net after a beautiful pass from Madeline MacMullin that was right on target.  Jordan Garber continued to show amazing hustle and broke up many Hanscom plays while Molly Hodgson and Madeline MacMullin were both outstanding in goal holding a tough Hanscom team to just 3 goals.  Alyssa Theodos had a terrific offensive showing with multiple shots on goal and did a great job keeping the pressure on the Hanscom goalie.  Samantha LaLonde showed great passing and defense by breaking up many Hanscom opportunities and getting the ball back to the Tewksbury offense.  Amanda Satterfied continued to show great ball handling throughout the game while Brigid Voto kept the offensive pressure on. Erin Coulter and Emily Satterfiled both helped out with strong kicks.  The girls showed great teamwork in their first regular season loss of the year to tough Hanscom team.

The Tewksbury GU14-1 went to North Andover for a Columbus Day Tournament. The Tewksbury girls went into the playoffs as the #1 seed.

Game #1 Tewksbury-7 North Reading-1

The girls opened the Tourney with a 7:30 AM game on the High School turf.  The girls came out like they were shot from a cannon in this one.  Early in the game Estelle Penta put it into high gear and ran past the opponents for a 1-0 lead and the girls never looked back.Emily Velozo (the leading scorer on this team) netted 2, Taylor Donahoe, Aria Porzio, Ashley Colarusso, and Karalyn Gallella all banged in their first goals of the year, which rounded out the scoring.  Megan Braciska was an assist machine in this one getting assists on 4 of the goals. As usual, the defense (although in this one playing shorthanded) was strong.  Sara Catanzano and Taylor Donahoe continued the 1-2 punch at stopper, with Haley Pozzuto, Samantha Parker & Nicole Malfa shoring up the back line. Michelle Farraher getting her first game in goal had a shutout until the final minutes when North Reading scored on a penalty kick.  Emily Velozo was awarded the sportsmanship medal from the North Reading team for her spirited play during the game.

Game#2             Tewksbury-1             Dracut-0

Coming off a big opening win the girls headed into day #2 and a date with rival Dracut.  The girls got into the tourney spirit as they sprayed the coaches hair, heads and mustaches pink for the game. This game turned out to be an incredible game with two closely matched teams exchanging blows for the first half and heading into the half with a 0-0 game.  The game stayed even until about half way thru the second half when Karalyn Gallella came up big on a pass from Megan Braciska and beat the Dracut keeper for the games only score.  Janina Kennedy returned to her position as the teams net minder and recorded the shutout for the local girls.  The Dracut team awarded Janina the sportsmanship award for her great play in this one. The defense which is always solid was simply all world in this game.  Samantha Parker, Sara Catanzano, Taylor Donahoe, Haley Pozzuto,  Nicole Malfa and some great minutes from Michelle Farraher (pressed into action on defense due to an injury to malfa) simply refused to give up a goal.

The middies & forwards of Aria Porzio, Erin Dwinell,(a great play late in the game firing a loose ball from our goal mouth out of trouble) Karah Chaisson, Ashley Colarusso, Gallella, Braciska, Estelle Penta  & Emily Velozo showed that they were going to keep the ball in the opponents end of the field.

This was a team win.

Semi-Finals  North Andover-2 Tewksbury-0

The girls headed into this game wanting to take care of business and a trip to the finals.  The game was not even 20 seconds old when North Andover scored to get a quick 1-0 lead.  The girls seemed a little snakebit and gave up another goal before the half before things started to settle down.  The Running reds didn’t give up and came out and tried to make a game of it in the second half but a tough North Andover defense just would not let the offense get untracked. Neither team was ready for the heat and both teams seemed to show the effects of it by the end.  There were a couple of scary moments in this game when two of our opponents took hard balls directly in the face.   We were glad at the end of the game to see that both girls were ok and awarded one of them the sportsmanship medal.    The North Andover Attack awarded the Sportsmanship award to Samantha Parker for her great play on defense.  In this game Sara Catanzano was awesome for the Running Reds doing all she could to put the team on her back and keep them in the game.  Janina Kennedy made some key saves while keeping the girls in the game and Karalyn Gallella showed she is a force at the midfield position.  The girls get back into league play with a Thursday Night makeup game under the lights at Woburn High this week followed by a Saturday Morning showdown with Billerica at Frasca.

The Tewksbury Girls GU13-1 team with some help from the GU14-2 team had a successful bid  in North Andover at the Columbus Day tournament.

Game #1              Tewksbury   2                        North Reading             0

The Redmen allowed North Reading to control the first 5 minutes of the game allowing several shots on their keeper Samantha Mercurio but she saved them all.  Tewksbury finally settled down and their defense stepped it up to record their first shut out of the tournament. Scoring for the Redmen were Kayla Devlin assisted by Emily Sessa and Maddison Wescott unassisted.  That’s all the defense needed and with the strong play of the whole team they were feeling very confident for the days to come.

Game #2 Tewksbury             1            vs             Litchfield             1

Mercurio was once again in net and made some great saves against a good Litchfield, NH team..  Late in the first half, Litchfield was awarded a direct kick after a scrum for the ball and the shot sailed over Mercurio’s head.  Soon thereafter Kelly Fortier boomed the ball back into the Litchfield end of the field and Brittany Fletcher was there to slam it to tie the score before the end of the first half.  This was a rough match in the early morning heat and the Redmen once again played hard.  The defense led by Fortier, Victoria Mirabito, and Sam Surowiec went the distance and were very busy in this one.  Mercurio held strong and the midfield led by Emily Sessa, Stephanie Travis, and Allison Piracini controlled the ball well, setting up the forwards.  Kayla Makooi had a bid to break the tie with just a few minutes left but her shot was too high and the game ended in a tie but keeping the Redmen on top of the leader board.

Game # 3             Tewksbury             3  vs Andover   0

Sessa scored early in the 3^rd game of the tournament and the team’s second game on Sunday. The team kept constant pressure on the Andover keeper and Ashley Antonoelli, Allison Capone, and Devlin all had good shots but the keeper turned them away.  Caroline Picariello and Dainelle Carrigg worked hard on defense and kept the Andover attack back on the very fast turf field.  In the second half, Wescott scored unassisted followed by Devlin, each scoring their second goals of the tournament.   Mercurio and the defense and mids in front of her ensured their second shutout of the tournament with some outstanding play.

Game # 4 semi finals              Tewksbury             2               Triton 0

Stephanie Travis scored an early goal in this one which seems to keep the team strong all game long.  The Redmen offense kept good pressure on Triton the entire first half.  Antonelli and Sara Baptiste each moved the ball up the side lines well and crossed it to the awaiting forwards but the keeper turned their shots away.  The second half also started with a nice goal from Karina Crowley.  From the corner Crowley placed a ball perfectly in the opposite side of the goal to give the Redmen the cushion they needed.  Surowiec, Mirabito, and Fortier locked down the turf in front of Mercurio who recorded her 3^rd shutout in 2 days and a trip to the finals against Litchfield who beat Wilmington.

Game # 5 Final  Litchfield NH     1  Tewksbury             0

The Redmen had only allowed 1 goal in four games and that goal happened to be to Litchfield and Tewksbury wanted revenge.  This was a very physical match and the Redmen worked hard to move the ball past the skilled Litchfield defenders.  Devlin had a hard shot before the end of the half but their keeper saved it.  Mercurio was awesome in the first half making save after save.  Sessa was awarded a direct kick which looked to be perfect but the keeper got a hand on it and a juicy rebound came out but the Redmen were not able to capitalize on it.  The defense did a stellar job once again keeping the attack away from Mercurio but Litchfield was strong, made a few great passes past the defense and snuck one by Mercurio who attempted a diving save.  The score was just 1-0 but time was running out.  There was a long delay in the hot sun when an opposing player was injured so with just 3 minutes left Fletcher, Sessa, Devlin, Piracini, Wescott, and Travis pounded the Litchfield keeper but nothing got by her and the whistle blew putting an end to a very successful tournament for this young team.  The team received great trophies for their runner up performance and they will head to Reading on Saturday for their regular season game.