Major 10
Espanyol vs. Athletico Athletico’s season of frustration continued in a well-fought 2 – 0 loss.
Athletico stars: All-star nominee goalie Will Carr was outstanding stopping numerous difficult shots to keep his team in the game. Rookie Carly Ogilvie also shined on defense, showing incredible hustle and determination. Leah Anthony was tireless in the midfield chasing down every ball. All-star nominee strikers Dylan Pryor and Michael Banks turned in another fine performance for Athletico.
Espanyol’s dynamic trio of Elliot Loving, Alex Hirsch and Theo Fandrich were too much for Athletico combining for two goals and heaping on the pressure. First team all-star nominee midfielder Chun Schlesinger-Fried turned in another outstanding game as did Anya Dombrowski and Adam Moftah for the victors.
Real Madrid vs. Sevilla In a comedy of errors division leader Sevilla held off a serious challenge by the resurgent Real Madrid as both teams scored off of their own goal deflections. Real Madrid first team all-star nominee striker Jake Jiler kept his scoring streak alive and Sevilla’s Will Steere also scored in the hard- fought 1- 1 tie.
Villareal vs. Barcelona
Villareal avenged their early season loss to Barcelona in a hard fought 1-0 victory as converted goalie Alec Tullock won his second straight game with a late game tally off a nice feed from Samantha Sewell. Villareal goalie Nathan Goldberg made the difference in this one, returning from the inactive list to make several stellar saves, the most dramatic upending a flying Aidan Rogers in the final minute to preserve the win.
Standouts for Barcelona were all-star nominees Rogers, Eve Grassfield, and defensive captain Michael Shorris, who had several solo stops. Nigel Epps, Chloe Lombardi, Anthony O’Donnell and Henry Lilien also shone for Barcelona. Villareal super twin all-star nominees Marcus and Meryl Chan led the victors in the midfield. Mikayla Toffler and Sal Derogatis also stood out for Villareal.
Valencia vs. Mallorca All-star nominees Taro Nakagawa and Zach Trachtenberg continued to rack up the goals for division contender Valencia with the help of great passing from midfielders Mathieu Bialosky and Roberta Samuels.
Mallorca’s first team all-star nominee striker Dario Flores saw his scoring streak end as he ran into stellar defense from Kate Nathan on his numerous breakaways. Valencia all-star nominee Goalie Noah Kahan upped his chances for first team status in this one robbing Dario on a penalty kick.
Uriah Frederick and Theo Simko were outstanding for Mallorca covering a ton of ground as they have all season. Mallorca’s Griffin Levine had a great all-around game, with numerous shots on goal, while Iliana Memmo made some great passes tirelessly battling boys twice her size. Despite the two first period goals, goalie Mateo Flores played well in the second half shutting Valencia out to keep the game close, 2 – 0.
Minor 9
Hibernian vs. Hearts Both teams have grown since their initial match in September, and Saturday’s match had the additional obstacle of very cold fall weather, plus the absence of four Hearts players.
The wind was blowing toward the Hibernian goal, but not hard enough to prevent Nicky Leong’s save of an immediate shot on goal by Hearts’ Jackson Kaufman. His teammate Sarah Miles also pushed the ball towards the goal with a great kick, but her shot was defended by Hibernian’s Lumia Nocito. Nocito was helped by stellar defense from Anthony Miguez throughout the game. Ben Karam also heeded the cry of Hearts’ coach Liz Lamere to put the pressure on, but his shot was wide on the breakaway. Jacob Roter took the ball downfield for Hibernian, passing to Tyler Rohan, who connected with Romy Macari for her first assist of the year. She booted it to Elias Griffin, whose laser kick found the low corner of the goal, bringing the score to 1 – 0.
Hearts’ Cameron Burger displayed her usual skillful foot, but could not get past Miguez. Hibernian’s James Carney scooped up the rebound and brought it downfield, but Hearts’ Dante Vega Lamere cleared it to teammate Douglass Stapler. Rohan beat Stapler to the ball and shot on goal, but was blocked by Simon Miles. Griffin later answered with a clean breakaway, well-executed down to the shot on goal, but Hearts’ Elan Halpern took one for the team- right in the rib. She was soon back in the game to cheers from both sides. Burger added some high drama with her breakaway, but shot wide. She and Karam tried again right away, but couldn’t get past Leong in the Hibernian goal. Macari, still jubilant from her assist, took a shot on goal but it was saved by Halpern, as was a corner kick from Carney.
In the second half, Stapler moved to goal for Hearts, and Halpern helped out with a great defensive block of Leong’s shot on goal. Hearts tried to bring the ball down, but it went out of bounds. Griffin threw in the ball to Roter, whose blast went right under Stapler’s legs for goal two. Matthew Levine and Gabriel Colon showed up for the second half and brought new energy and fresh legs to Hibernian (while Hearts continued to play without subs.) Colon connected again to Roter, whose third shot was saved by Stapler. His punt was headed by Kaufman, but picked up by Margaret Matthews of Hibernian. Simon Miles cleared her shot and dribbled it skillfully downfield, but was shadowed well by Daphne Tsapalas, who passed to the hustling Rohan. His shot was blocked by Halpern, and Nocito’s rebound shot was saved by Stapler. Karam answered with a shot on Hibernian’s goal, but was blocked by Colon. Burger continued her offensive strategies, but her shot was saved by Hibernian’s Carney in goal. Carney’s long punt was picked up by Leong, who passed it to Roter. His shot went wide, and as he stopped, dropped and rolled, the ref blew the game-ending whistle. The final score was Hibernian 2, Hearts 0.
