[The following youth sports game summaries, write-ups and photos were submitted by parents of the New Canaan Soccer Association and New Canaan Youth Football. Please forward your own write-ups to editor@newcanaanite.com for publication on the site and visibility in our daily newsletter, Facebook page and Twitter feed.]
Sitting (l-r): Kyle Russell, AJ Eason, Robert Evans, Dean Ciancio
Kneeling (l-r): Bailey Williams, Luke McPhillips, Zach Boland, Dylan McDonald, Zach LaPolice, Alec Kazlauskas and Andrew Morse
Standing (l-r): Luke Morton, Tighe Hoey, Jack Anderson, Theo Kammerer, Alex Gibbens, Will Pirrone and Matthew Rigione
missing from picture – Jack Finnigan, Joe McClain, Alessio Pantaleo, Charlie Knight and Coaches Denis LaPolice, Bob Evans and Chris Ciancio. Credit: Rachel McDonald
Football: New Canaan Black 7 Support Childhood Cancer Program
New Canaan 7 Black recently took up a collection to support Circle of Care, for the organization’s Bags of Love program.
Following a child’s cancer diagnosis, families are immediately sent to the hospital to begin treatment procedures, most of which require hospitalization.
Often, parents don’t even have time to grab a toothbrush, let alone their child’s favorite thing to comfort them. While Circle of Care works with children and families in a number of ways to directly support them during their cancer treatment, their Bags of Love help meet the immediate needs of newly diagnosed children as soon as they reach the hospital—it’s one of the first things waiting for them, to let them know they’re not alone, and to offer them some practical support.
The collection drive NC 7 Black helped them fill those bags with much-needed items. Find out more about Circle of Care here.
Soccer
Great job by the New Canaan Girls U11 Black team. Contributed photo
New Canaan Girls U11 Black Find Success at Ridgefield SCOR Tournament
New Canaan Girls U11 Black went 3-1-1 in a very competitive division to end up with second place overall in the tournament. They started the day with a strong 4-2 win against Wilton, lost a tightly played 1-0 contest to host Ridgefield, won 2-1 against Fairfield, tied the eventual tournament winner John Jay 0-0 and finished the day with a strong 2-1 win against a big Newtown team. The scoring was spread out among Zoe Walker (2), Anna Barnard (2), Jasmine Mansourov (2), Abbie Gaudreau and Kiera Mastey. Coach Wayne Hampton commented on the day, “A great effort from everyone on and off the field. It was a pleasure to be a part of.”
New Canaan’s Jade Lowe keeps her opponent at arm’s length to control the ball. Contributed photo
U11 Girls Red Defeats Division Rival Southbury 3-2
The U11 Girls Red soccer team extended their regular season record to 4-0-1 by defeating their division rival Southbury by a score of 3-2.
Playing at home on Sunday, with clear blue skies overhead, New Canaan had been anticipating this match up all season and arrived focused and ready to play. It was evident almost immediately that this was going to be a physical, back and forth game with the mid-fielders seeing a lot of the action.
Relying on their speed and excellent passing game, the U11 girls held their own on the field until a Southbury striker appeared out of nowhere for the breakaway shot on goal. New Canaan keeper Katie Perlitz made a “body sacrificing” dive to block the shot but couldn’t quite get her hands on the ball. Jade Lowe immediately answered back with a goal of her own to tie the score at 1-1.
Goal-to-goal action continued throughout the half with the New Canaan back line, led by the powerhouse combination of Kaleigh Harden, Avery Minter and Grace Crowell, doing their job to win tackles and distribute the ball up field. After Southbury sneaked another hard shot past Perlitz, Crowell stepped up the pressure and scored New Canaan’s second goal off a perfectly executed pass sequence from Dillyn Patten and Hollis Mulry.
The second half opened with the same intensity as the first, with both teams coming out swinging. Game play was again very evenly matched with the New Canaan offense and defense getting an equally good work out on the field. Front line teammates Patten, Caitlyn Tully, Hadley Beiles and Crowell used their speed and effective ball control skills to make several offensive rushes to the goal, only to have Southbury’s superb keeper execute save after save. Always one to keep her poise on the field, Jade Lowe finally broke the deadlock by drilling a gorgeous shot across the net into the corner of the goal.
With 10 minutes left in the game, the pressure was now on the New Canaan defense and keeper Ashley Barton to stave off a tying goal. Barton stood tall and preserved the win by making several confident saves.
The U11 Red team will be busy this week preparing for their CT Cup quarterfinal game against Old Greenwich Thunder Blue on Saturday, October 18. They again face Old Greenwich on Sunday, October 19 in a regular season game.
Alexandra Gelvin looks to pass to Kailee See, as Fiona Mueller and Tema Wagner offer support. Contributed photo
New Canaan U9 Girls Red Sweep Ridgefield Tournament
After a tough game last week, the New Canaan U9 Girls Red team was determined to get back on track this past Sunday in the Ridgefield Tournament.
They won all four games in commanding fashion, defeating Ridgefield Eagles 5-0, Ridgefield Falcons 1-0, Brookfield Bulldogs 3-1, and Stamford Hurricanes 3-0.
Six players scored for New Canaan: Lexie Tully (3), Kelly Polacek (3), Devon Russell (2), Alexandra Gelvin (2), Kailee See (1) and Isabel Cavanagh (1).
The Red’s dominant performance was also the result of stifling defense anchored by goaltenders Fiona Mueller, Tully, Russell and Lila Volpe who held their opponents to only one goal, while Maggie Murphy, Katie Quill, Ava Pertusiello and Tema Wagner were persistent in winning possession of the ball.
New Canaan U9 Girls Red now stands 3-1-1 in regular play, with a 7-1 combined tournament record, and the girls look to continue their outstanding play in the final stretch of the season.
NC U9 Boys Red Soccer team shows off their medals after Saturday’s Columbus Day tournament in Ridgefield. Back row Jaden Oyekanmi, Ted Werner, Will Langford, Coach Chris Gilligan, Ethan Schubert, Ben Bilden. Front row: Max Lowe, Teddy Balkind, Connor Lytle, Teddy Hoffstein.
New Canaan U9 Boys Red Continues Winning Streak at Ridgefield Columbus Day Tournament
It was pouring rain on Saturday morning and while New Canaan’s local soccer fields were closed for the day, it was game-on in Ridgefield at the Columbus Day tournament.
The New Canaan U9 Boys Red team played four fast games, each just 25 minutes long, and beat the Ridgefield Hawks 5-1, the Ridgefield Falcons 2-0 and the Ridgefield Eagles 3-2, and tied Newtown Blue 0-0.
In their first game, determined New Canaan defensemen kept the Ridgefield Hawks to one goal and delivered ball after ball back to the offense, who wasted no opportunity and scored five goals in 25 minutes.
In game two, Ben Bilden lofted a pass into the box and Connor Lytle headed it in for the first goal. Minutes later, Connor Lytle scored again in a take-away, breakaway run. The final score of 2-0 gave them a 6-goal differential at the halfway mark of the tournament. After a 2-hour break to dry off and warm up, the team came back in the afternoon to face the Ridgefield Eagles.
New Canaan was momentarily down by two as the goalkeepers struggled to stay standing in a field of mud, but the day’s offensive power duo of Ben Bilden and Connor Lytle responded quickly with 3 goals for New Canaan for a 3-2 win.
The rain finally stopped before their game against Newtown Blue.
While much of the play was in front of the Newtown goalkeeper, New Canaan did not manage to get it into the net within the allotted 25 minutes and had to settle for a 0-0 tie. Their coach Chris Gilligan was happy to see that the boys kept their great attitude despite the cold and rain, but everyone is hoping for a clear day next Sunday for the team’s game against Stamford Gold.
The New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team Victorious at SCOR Tournament
The New Canaan Soccer Girls U10 Red Team came up big with a record of 3-0-1 at the SCOR (Soccer Club of Ridgefield) Tournament on Sunday, Oct. 12.
The tournament featured teams from around the area and consisted of four 25 minute fast paced games. The first game played by New Canaan was a rematch of last week’s game against the Stamford Hurricanes. Once again the Red Team defeated the Hurricanes 1-0 on a breakaway goal from Ava Gizzie. Evelyn Slatoff was perfect in goal and the defense held strong which allowed New Canaan to chalk up their first victory of the day.
Next, the New Canaan team faced the Wilton White team in another high-energy matchup. This time Katie Polacek blasted a shot into the top of the net creating a 1-0 lead. The Red Team’s defensive play and strong goal keeping of Julia Dunn shut down the Wilton team and the game ended in a 1-0 victory.
The third game of the day was played against the Fairfield Red Team. The Fairfield team scored first on a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead. However, New Canaan battled back and was able to tie the game on a beautiful breakaway goal from Caroline Underwood. With the game even at 1-1, the New Canaan defense and goaltending of Ellie Gallois was able to keep Fairfield from scoring any further goals. As time ran out, this game went into the books as a 1-1 tie.
Finally the last game played was against the Southbury Blue Lightning.
The scoring opened up when Ellie Gallois scored on a crossing pass from Ella Patterson. Moments later Gallois added another goal to make the score 2-0. Working as a team Ella Patterson scored the third goal on an assist from Gallois. New Canaan kept up the offensive pressure and Katie Polacek stole the ball in front of the Southbury goal and beat the goalie to send the score to 4-0.
With just minutes remaining Katharine Byrne’s footwork allowed her to thread the defense and cap off the New Canaan scoring for the day. Once again the defense was impenetrable and Ava Gizzie’s goal tending shut out the Southbury team by a score of 5-0.
New Canaan finished the tournament with three victories and one tie, only allowing one goal and scoring eight of their own.