U13 Arsenal 4, East Fishkill 1
Eastern Pike 4, U8 Storm 0
U18 Parrott’s Old Boys 1, Wallkill 0
Game summaries provided by Philipstown Soccer Club:
Arsenal Tops East Fishkill
After losing a close game to the East Fishkill Force the previous week, the Philipstown Boys U13 Arsenal travel soccer team had the opportunity to redeem themselves On may 14.
From the moment they took the field, Arsenal dominated possession and settled into a tight passing game with an emphasis on teamwork. Thanks to the outstanding Arsenal defense of goalkeeper Danny Urbanak, defensive backs Patrick DiNardo, Stephen Robinson, Aidan Sullivan-Hoch and David Tacuri, and holding midfielder Matthew Nachamkin, much of the first half was spent on East Fishkill’s end of the field with Philipstown looking for opportunities to score. On one of East Fishkill’s sporadic possessions, however, Urbanak sparked his team’s spirit when he came up with a monster save.
Midway through the first half, Evan Maasik took the ball down the left wing, cut past his defender and sent a cross to teammate Chase Mayer, who drove the ball into the back of the net to give Philipstown a 1-0 lead. Minutes later, Tacuri blasted the ball up to Philipstown’s front line and Maasik sprinted past the defense, collided with the Force keeper on a strong challenge and one-touched the ball into the net, bringing the score at the half to Philipstown 2, East Fishkill 0. A strong defensive team, the Force did not give up and the beginning of the second half saw the momentum shift in their direction.
An accidental handball in the Arsenal penalty box resulted in a penalty kick for East Fishkill. An excellent penalty kick by the Force attacker was nearly stopped by Urbanak who managed to get a hand on the ball when he dove to his right side but East Fishkill brought the score within a goal. However Philipstown’s middies: Colin August, Tim Ben-Adi, Jasper Drake, Ryan Eng-Wong, Stefano Hammond, Maasik, Mayer, Nachamkin and Roy Smith, responded by stepping up the pressure and Arsenal never looked back.
David Tacuri notched his second assist when he connected with Maasik again, this time with a free kick that Maasik volleyed with the outside of his foot past the East Fishkill keeper for his second goal on the day, making the score 3-1 Philipstown. Subsequently August won the ball on the left side and sent a beautiful cross to Ben-Adi who controlled the ball and launched a rocket shot over the outstretched hands of the Force goalie to bring the score to 4-1.
Maasik took a turn in goal for Philipstown and with some great saves and the support of the defense, was able to shut out East Fishkill for the remainder of the game bringing the final score to Philipstown 4, East Fishkill 1.
Team Storm Falls to Strikers
On a picture perfect sunny Mother’s Day, the Philipstown U8 Boys Team Storm took the field against the Eastern Pike Strikers. The Storm showed a strong defensive combination from Griffin Lucca, Joey DeMarco, and Henry Foley-Hedlund who blocked off most pathways the Strikers attempted. Our coaches felt it was the best defensive performance of the season. Debuting in goal was Theo Saks, who showed off some impressive stops and held off the Strikers from scoring more often than not.
The rest of the Storm deserve high praise and high marks for passion and a determination to make plays and create dynamic moments with great opportunities to score. One highlight was Gavin Mahoney who broke away with the ball and took a great shot into the corner, which was unfortunately blocked. Rhy Williams, Parker Larsen, Oliver Sanders, Lenny Wolfe, and Alex Gaugler displayed finesse and poise, dazzling us with some great set ups and nifty dribbling moves that had not been witnessed before.
It was the Storm’s best-played game of the season, but the Strikers came out on top, 4-0.
Parrott’s Old Boys Win, 1-0
In a match rescheduled from early in the season, the Wallkill Hawks visited the Philipstown Boys HS Old Boys in what turned out to be a low scoring battle of possession and control. To try to generate more offensive chances the Old Boys used a formation that sacrificed a defenseman for an additional striker, playing a 3-4-3 with 3 defensemen, 4 midfielders and 3 strikers, as opposed to their standard 4-4-2 that only uses 2 strikers.
This put a lot of pressure on the 3-man defensive line of Jeremy Roffman, Jesse Sherman, and Ethan Penner. To their credit, the line stood strong; both shutting down the Hawks advances and distributing the ball to the midfielders, who in various shifts included Michael Harmancin, Max Mormar, Andre Van Dommele, Justin Villa, Henry Weed, Matthew Welsh, and Kyle Zimmerman. Meanwhile The Old Boys’ front line created a number of chances led by talented strikers Zachary Kotzias, Justin Roffman, and Seth Warren. As always, the team was anchored by the goalkeeping talents of Ted Northup.
After a first half that ended with the score tied at 0, both teams came out with newfound energy; trading possession and showcasing excellent positional support, passing and hard-nosed play on both ends. At the 75th minute, the Old Boys midfield line set up a nice opportunity by passing to the holding midfield, which distributed a well-placed corner ball to Michael Harmancin, who was deep in the Hawks’ territory. Michael struck a perfect cross to the right foot of Andre Van Dommele, who finished with authority to put Philipstown ahead 1-0. The Hawks tried to answer by flooding the forward line for the last 15 minutes, but the Old Boys answered by shifting to a 5-man defense, and held off any further opportunities for Wallkill.
The game ended 1-0 in favor of Philipstown. The Old Boys look forward to continuing their string of home games, taking on the powerful Hyde Park Cosmos on May 21 at noon.
