Autumn falls on Downtown kickers’ season

Almost one month into the season, Downtown Soccer League players are learning to play as a team resulting in exciting matches that are almost always up for grabs until the final minutes of play.

JUNIOR 6

Southampton vs. Liverpool

Southampton and Liverpool faced off on a Saturday morning for a challenging match. The first half witnessed tough goaltending by Southampton’s goalie, Thomas Burns, but the unstoppable Arthur Perry scored two corner kick goals. Midway through the first half, Southampton’s Charlie Pomerantz played some awesome defense but could not hold back Liverpool’s star player, Julian Boehning.

In the second half, both teams stepped up defensive play with Liverpool’s Georgia Greenleaf and Sophia Marino’s incredible ball handling on the field. Southampton’s James O’Grady and Tyler Kraehling did an excellent job goaltending during the second half, only allowing one goal. The game ended with a great time had by all.

Tottingham’s first goal of the season was scored by Yani Porter in a 1-1 tie against the Wolves on the Battery Park City Fields.

Arsenal vs. Bolton

The players of Arsenal and Bolton played an exciting match on a perfect autumn morning. Coaches Brandon Boudreaux and John Chow of Arsenal and Edward Lam of Bolton had their teams well prepared to show off the skills they’ve learned. The first half had Arsenal players Daniella Branchinelli, Alex Hall and TJ Westfall defending with Stephan Nyarko in goal stopping several attempts by Bolton to score. On offense Arsenal’s Liana Chow, Sophia Delaney, Yannick DeGuchteneere, and Bain Boudreaux got through Bolton’s defenses twice to score two goals off the foot of Bain Boudreaux.

In the second half, Arsenal’s Alex Hall scored three times with the help of forwards Stephan Nyarko, Daniella Branchinelli and TJ Westfall. An intent fan on the sidelines, visiting for from Wales, remarked that it was the best travel souvenir to watch his grandson Alex “playing football and shooting goals.” Bolton’s Justen Lam made some tremendous diving saves as goalie, and Nicolas Fandrich was among the strongest of Bolton defenders. Yannick DeGuchteneere protected the Arsenal goal while Bain Boudreaux, Liana Chow and Sophia Delaney kept the ball heading back to Bolton’s side of the field.

Luke Dilworth on a breakaway.

JUNIOR 7

Manchester United vs. Birmingham

Against the backdrop of a sunny morning, Manchester United faced off against Birmingham in an exciting match. Fifteen seconds into the game, Dario Flores, with an assist from Jacob Roter, beamed one past Douglas Stapler in Manchester’s goal. Manchester answered soon after with a goal by Jean-Luc, assisted by Athena Karavasilis, bringing the score to an even 1-1. Both teams continued playing brilliantly, though a bit rough at times. Manchester’s defense was impressive, with several players on the ball at once. Despite that, Jacob Roter scored again for Birmingham, with an assist from Elias Griffin. Tyler Rohan and Gabriel Colon of Birmingham were hustling and dribbling, but could not get it past Douglass Stapler in goal. Nicole LeGreca of Manchester also demonstrated dribbling skill, but the Birmingham defense kept the score 2-1 going into the second half. Robby Feffer of Manchester cleared the ball several times, and Milo Bernfield-Millman and James Hull were also very effective in defense for Manchester.

Gianna LeGreca was defending Manchester’s goal when she was banged in the head, but like other players who were bumped and bruised, very bravely re-entered the field. Manchester took the ball downfield and beat Matthew Levine in goal, but Birmingham’s Jacob Roter covered the goal and cleared it. Jean-Luc continued to play well, heading the ball several times. Katie Higgins of Birmingham threw the ball past a sea of red to Gabriel Colon, whose shot on goal was thwarted by Douglas Stapler. The next throw-in resulted in an unassisted goal by Dario Flores, who completed his hat trick shortly afterwards with an assist by Elias Griffin. The final score was 4-1 Birmingham.

Charlton vs. Chelsea

Charlton posted a solid 2 – 0 victory over Chelsea with great teamwork and goals by Brody Sharoff and Cameron Lamser along with the impenetrable defense of Cole Hawthorne and Gabriella Rutherford. Chelsea’s goalie, James Borrelli, made a beautiful save on a hard shot to keep them close, but in spite of the brilliant work of striker Dante Secada-Oz they came up empty handed.

MINOR 9

Dundee vs. Hibernian

It was a star filled Thursday night when Dundee met Hibernian. Unfortunately for Dundee, the brilliant teamwork of goalie Cierra Schirripa and defensive foot work of Duncan Kimmel were just not enough to stop the goals by Hibernian’s Dashiell Lieberman and Jeremy Karson during the first half. The second half proved to be filled with fine play by both teams. Dundee goalie Annabelle Sosa and incredible defensive play by Richard King helped limit Hibernian to only one goal, which was scored by Noah Duran. Dundee’s star kicker Zisis Gribas had some close kicks, but he could not penetrate beyond Hibernian goalie Jeremy Karson.

MAJOR 11

Paris SG vs. Monaco

Meeting for the first time this season, Paris and Monaco played a thrilling match with Paris scoring first. All other shots were turned away by Ali Rossi in net for Monaco during the first half. The second half saw Paris extend their lead to two goals as Monaco’s defensive experienced a lapse. Cameron Spector, after an extended sleep, got Monaco on the board with a nice pass and assist from Joseph Demarco and Lindsay Holcomb. Caspar Henak and Corey Betancourt played aggressively in mid field, and with time winding down, Lindsay Holcomb slipped a hard right footed shot into the net ending the match with a 2-2 tie.

SENIOR 12-13

L.A. Galaxy vs. Dallas Burn

L.A. Galaxy and Dallas Burn played the last game of the day this past Sunday. Midway in the first half of play, Galaxy’s Tim Rossi split the defense and executed a well placed shot into the upper corner of the goal for the first score. Marlon Geshlider, Ray Perez and Brendan Bakke-Spadoro controlled the tempo of play in mid field for Galaxy. Sam Jossen and Danzel Miller were outstanding sharing the goalkeeping duties and preventing a number of Dallas Burn shots from slipping in. In the second half of play, Lucas Rosario picked up his first goal of the season ending the match at 2-0. The game was well played by both squads with the final outcome only decided late in the second half.

Downtown Soccer League coaches should e-mail game highlights to news@DowntownExpresss.com by Monday morning.

Compiled by Caitlin Eichelberger

google_ad_client = “pub-6226499064891091”;

google_ad_width = 468;

google_ad_height = 60;

google_ad_format = “468x60_as”;

google_ad_channel =”0606561524″;

google_color_border = “336699”;

google_color_bg = “FFFFFF”;

google_color_link = “0000FF”;

google_color_url = “008000”;

google_color_text = “000000”;