U13 Raptors Upset Poughkeepsie
Needing a victory to control its destiny for a second-place finish in its advanced division, the U-13 Raptors upset the visiting T-Poughkeepsie Fireworks, 4-1, avenging an earlier loss by the same score.
The Raptors showed they were as good as any team in the division, dominating T-Poughkeepsie, who had a league-leading +16 goal differential coming into the game, but who never threatened. Playing in temperatures so hot that the referee included two water stoppages, the Raptors’ defense, led by goalie Dosi Weed and defenders Mazzie Maxwell, Maya Osborn, Ella Ashburn, Camille Maglio, Eden Feinstein, and Zoe Harris, as well as sweeper Sophia Scanga, controlled the game from start to finish.
The offense once again saw great play upfront, with the athletic Lili Westerhuis — an original Raptor who took a two-year break before re-joining the Raptors this spring — scoring a hat trick. But it was Emilia Osborn who put the Raptors up 1-0 in the game’s seventh minute on a fabulous run to a ball lofted over the defense that she placed in the right corner of the net.
The Raptors’ second goal came on striker Bianca Harmancin’s perfectly placed corner kick to Katie Shields, who kneed the ball to a waiting Westerhuis, who rocketed a shot past the T-Poughkeepsie goalie in the game’s 13th minute for a 2-0 lead.
Westerhuis’s second goal and the Raptors’ third came on a ball pushed upfield by midfielder Brynn Martin, whose pass let Westerhuis’s superior speed and strong kick to beat the T-Poughkeepsie goalie and send the Raptors into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead.
The second half saw continued strong defense, as the Raptor defenders made sure the Fireworks’ chances would be few. Raptor goalie Weed turned back one breakaway shot from point blank, deflating the T-Poughkeepsie side. While the Fireworks did finally break through with 18 minutes remaining, Westerhuis’s third goal, a rocket through the hands of the T-Poughkeepsie goalie, left the Fireworks’ heads hanging for the game’s remaining 10 minutes. The Raptors look to secure second place with two games against Washingtonville, away on June 21 and home on June 24 at noon.
Phoenix Win Final Match of Season
Under beautiful blue skies, the U12 Phoenix won its second game of the season versus Onteora United, 2 to 0.
In the first half, the offensive line of Vanja Booth, Amber Skye-Korcz and Ruby Poses expertly fed the ball to Finola Kiter, Delaney Horan and Madison Knott who dominated play and kept the ball on the Onteora side for much of the first half. The defensive line of Walker Tinsley, Josie Foley-Hedlund and Amber Skye-Korcz along with goalie Maggie Gordineer wouldn’t let the United 12 near the goal.
The lone score for the Phoenix came off a kick from Kiter that bounced off the back of the Onteora goalie and into the goal, resulting in a first half score of Phoenix 1, Onteora 0. In the first part of the second half, the Onteora offensive line put heavy pressure on goal but the defensive line of Foley-Hedlund, Tinsley, Isabella Lukic and second half goalie, Ruby Poses pushed back even harder and the Onteora United 12 could not find the back of the net.
For the remainder of the game, the offensive line of Kiter, Knott, Gordineer, Horan, Skye-Korcz and Booth kept the ball close to the Onteora United 12 net, making numerous shots on goal. With minutes to go, Kiter slipped her second goal past the Onteora goalie to bring the score to 2 to 0. Special congratulations to today’s goalies — Ruby Poses and Maggie Gordineer — on their first shutout of the season.
