U9 Vikings 8, Shrub Oak 1
Beacon 4, U14 Arsenal 2
Vikings Defeat Shrub Oak in Rain
The Vikings (U9 boys) hosted the Shrub Oak Rebels on a rainy Mother’s Day, May 16, but the dreary drizzle didn’t damper their play.
The Vikings displayed a controlled offense and their flurry of attacks yielded an early goal when Connor Keegan put a shot past the Rebels goalie. Moments later, Parker Larsen charged past defenders to score and give the Vikings a 2-0 advantage. Continued upfield pressure and cohesive passing allowed center Elias Moran to sink one, too, and send his team to halftime with a 3-0 lead.
At the start of the second half, the Vikings capitalized on their momentum when Parker Larsen scored his second goal. And, Joseph DeMarco, normally an anchor of the Vikings defense, quickly followed with a goal to make it a 5-0 match. The Vikings defense shut down attempts by the Rebels and set up many counter attacks. One such counter rewarded Rys Williams with a goal, followed by Connor Keegan who – from some distance – lofted the ball over a leaping Rebels goalie and into the net for his second goal.
The Rebels scored on a penalty shot, but Jack Fitzgerald made it 8-1 with a goal of his own, putting an exclamation on the convincing Vikings victory. Now 3-1-1, the Vikings next host the Wallkill Inferno on Sunday, June 3, at noon.
Arsenal Fall to Beacon in Second Half
The boys’ U14 Philipstown Arsenal soccer team hosted the Beacon Thunder on May 16. The gunners started the game with a bang, putting together a nice series of passes until middie Tim Ben Adi launched a beautifully placed cross to teammate Evan Maasik who took a touch for control and put some English on a shot that curved around the Beacon keeper and caromed off the far post for a goal just 47 seconds into the game.
Beacon answered with a breakaway goal at 16 minutes to tie the game. Philipstown goalkeeper Danny Urbanak came up with several big saves, keeping his team close. Late in the half, Philipstown middie, Jasper Drake sent a ball into the middle that Chase Mayer headed into the goal past the keeper’s outstretched hands to take the lead for Arsenal, bringing the score at halftime to Philipstown 2, Beacon 1.
The talented Beacon team could not be contained any longer and the second half told a different story. Despite the excellent efforts of the Philipstown defense, Beacon scored three unanswered goals during the half. Arsenal had its chances in the game with a powerful shot from Drake bouncing off the crossbar and multiple runs by strikers, Maasik, Colin August and Ryan Eng-Wong but the final tally at the end of the game was Beacon 4, Philipstown 2.
