Ice Hockey
L-R: Dylan Thom( NC), Pierce Moley (NC), Teddy Dyer (D), James Conway(D).
—submitted by Patrick Moley
Two New Canaan kids helped their team (Darien Bantam A Hockey) win the 4-man relay race in Lake Placid this weekend.
Soccer
New Canaan Football Club Girls 2003/04 Black Team Wins Division
—submitted by Kerry Connell
The New Canaan Football Club Girls 2003/04 Black Team won their division (B2/C) at the Southwest Connecticut Junior Soccer Championship on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Fairfield (FUSA).
New Canaan Football Club Girls 2003/04 Black Team
New Canaan was undefeated throughout the season and reached the finals after a 4-0 win against Norwalk in the semifinals on Saturday.
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NC U13 Girls Red Soccer Team Named CT Southwest District Champions
—submitted by Kara Underwood
Seated: Nola Kammerer and Caroline Underwood; Kneeling: Maggie Murphy, Izzy Schuh, Kate Caione, Stella Nolan, Julia Dunn and Ella Imbruce; Standing: Avery Laird, Tessa Cosco, Natalie Plosker, Everlyn Slatoff, Kelly Polacek, Lexi Tully, Reagan Quinn, Natalie Owsley, Peyton Zaletsy; Coach: Rich Hickson Not pictured: Kate Warner
New Canaan’s U13 Girl’s Red Soccer team capped off an undefeated season clinching the district championship title with a 2-0 win over Newtown on Sunday. Boasting a regular season record of 6 wins and 2 ties, the girls started their road to the finals started with a match up against Weston in the bitter cold on Saturday morning. Weston led 1-0 going into the second half. New Canaan came out strong after half time with Natalie Plosker scoring on a free kick outside the box, drilling her shot into the back corner of the cage. Weston quickly responded with a goal. Ten minutes before the end of regulation, Plosker scored a power shot that slipped through the goaltender’s hands, assisted by Natalie Owsley. Tied at 2-2, the game went into overtime. While New Canaan pressured the Weston cage, they failed to score in overtime, necessitating penalty kicks. New Canaan’s Plosker, Caroline Underwood, Tessa Cosco and Stella Nolan all scored on their kicks. New Canaan’s goalie, Ella Imbruce stared down Weston’s players, allowing just 2 of Weston’s 4 shots on goal, leaping to deflect one with her hands and sliding to block another with her foot. New Canaan triumphs 3-2 and advances to the finals.
New Canaan played a tough and physical championship game against a very determined Newtown on Sunday. New Canaan led the first half 1-0, scoring on a corner kick from Caroline Underwood, which was edged in by Tessa Cosco. New Canaan played strong offense throughout the second half, scoring on another corner kick from Underwood which was powered in by Lexi Tully. NC prevailed over Newtown 2-0.
Led by coach Rich Hickson, all of New Canaan’s players competed with grit and heart throughout the season. Imbruce defended New Canaan’s cage with Nola Kammerer, Peyton Zaletsky, Kate Caione, Everlyn Slatoff, Avery Laird and Reagan Quinn patrolling the backfield only allowing 3 goals against New Canaan for the season. Midfielders Maggie Murphy, Plosker, Kate Warner and Underwood controlled possession and ensured that our offense was working on all cylinders. Strikers Lexi Tully, Nolan, Kelly Polacek, Izzy Schuh, Owsley, Julia Dunn and Cosco pressured their opponent’s defense and cage. Congrats on a great season to this extraordinary team of powerful girls!
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New Canaan Girls 09 Red Shuts Out Westport Blue 1-0
—submitted by Anne Walker
Maddie Kupchak brings the ball down the field.
The NC Girls 09 Red team ended their season on a high note, shutting out Westport at Long Lots on Sunday afternoon. The crisp wintry weather did not deter the girls as they came together to finish triumphantly. For most of the game, the teams were neck-in-neck, the ball traveling back and forth between the two sides. Whitney Hoegstadt, as goalie during the first half, had a couple of good saves, preventing Westport from scoring.
The defense stands ready to guard the goal on a Westport throw-in.
The defense—Maggie Greiner, Kathleen Langford, Madison Schulte and Zanna Moor—was effectively a wall. With their speed and powerful blocks, they stopped everything and successfully moved the ball up the field to the offense. Finally, Mimi Matviak was able to put one away to put New Canaan on the scoreboard by half-time. The second half unfolded without any additional goals and the score remained 1 to 0. The offense—Mimi, Whitney, Maggie Newport, Maddie Kupchak and Sienna de Kanter—had several runs on Westport but the teams seemed more or less equally matched and Niamh Cooney, as the second half goal keeper, stepped up to the plate and stopped everything that came NC’s way.
Cheers to Coach for leading the girls through a successful first season – we look forward to spring!
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New Canaan U11 Red Shuts Out Trumbull for District Crown
—submitted by Steve Place
New Canaan U11 Red
No. 1 seed New Canaan U11 Red won its first SouthWest District Playoff Championship with a 3-0 win over No. 3 Trumbull Thunder on Sunday afternoon.
The New Canaan U11 Girls Red team added the season ending Playoff Championship to its State Championship which had been won the week before. This is the first time a New Canaan FC team has won a league title, a league playoff title and a CT Cup championship all in the same season.
The team known as Big Red (14-0-2 overall, 8-0-2 SWD) got goals from Madison Hartnett and Reese Quinn, while Julia McPhillps and Izzie Janiga kept a clean sheet for the girls from New Canaan.
The first half of the game was a see-saw affair, with both teams looking to strike early. Trumbull, fired up and hoping to knock off the CT Cup champs, pushed forward early in the game, creating a number of chances that McPhillps turned away deftly. Neither team was able to find the back of the net, and the first half ended as a scoreless tie.
After the break, both teams had scoring chances to start the period, but Hartnett’s goal started the party for the New Canaan, a fine individual effort splitting the Trumbull defense on a long run. Hartnett’s follow-up goal a few minutes later was a similar effort following a fancy leading pass from Sydney Patten. Quinn’s late game goal followed on the heels of a great first touch within the box as once again Hartnett’s pace had the Trumbull defense on its heels.
As has been the case all season long, this team really gets going in the second half and puts teams to the sword! Sunday was no different, with the team putting together attacking wave after wave with precise passing patterns and sublime ball movement. With the sustained pressure applied by Big Red as the game progressed, Trumbull had difficulty organizing any type of sustained play. Madeline Tully and Patten, putting in their usual diligent hard work through the middle, disrupted the Trumbull midfield from getting the ball cleanly out of their half of the field. Speedy wing-back play from Eleanor duPont, Cailey Varas and Paige Place shrunk the field and made it difficult for Trumbull to find space down the sides of the field, with Leanela Negron and Georgi Owsley hounding the Trumbull defense and factoring in disrupting the Trumbull attack.
Kate Kupchak, Christina Swarni, Payton DeCamillo and McPhillps turned away offensive pressure throughout the game as they have all season, battling a fast and aggressive Trumbull attack. Reading the game well to break up dangerous looking attacks and feeding the ball forward. The defensive foursome played a vital role in the team’s 11th consecutive win. New Canaan’s defense allowed a mere 11 goals over 10 league games this Fall.
The championship game on Sunday followed on the heels of Saturday morning’s cold, cold, cold 3-1 semifinal win over Ridgefield. Goals were scored by Maddie Tully, Cailey Varas and Reese Quinn to push the girls into the finals.