SHFC Spring Season off to a Strong Start

Sleepy Hollow Football Club is off to a great start this Spring and momentum is building. It was a gorgeous weekend for soccer and the teams did not disappoint. Read on for highlights of the April 17& 18 weekend.

The 2002 Varsity Girls Mustangs played Manhattan Portero with 10 players missing. Fortunately, Lauren Koch, Alison Jara, Ashley Richardson, lsabella Vinces, and even 2007 player Gemma Fante agreed to help the Mustangs and all play a second game that afternoon. The girls gave a great effort and earned a 0-0 tie against this premier division opponent. Britany Alban was player of the game. Lauren Koch at keeper and defenders Annie Dineen, Maya Weitzen, Sophie Sylves-Berry, Evelin Chacha, and Isabella Chambers earned the shut out. The Mustangs next face a rough South Bronx team Sunday at Washington Irving.

Great week for the Varsity Los Gauchos with a 6-3 win over Manhattan SC Rockers. Watch all SHFC Los Gauchos Varsity Premier goals and highlights from April 18 here: https://youtu.be/nE0_1sUIlGY

Varsity Argentina defeated Valhalla Vikings 3-1. Watch all SHFC Argentina Varsity Premier goals and highlights from April 18 here: https://youtu.be/FQ2oID90xrs

The 2005 JV Boys Red Legends played a hot Shrub Oak team that won their first game 8-0. The Red Legends competed well, ultimately winning 1-0 off the games only score from Frank Mendieta Jr. The boys got quite chippy with the opponents and ultimately there was a double red card with both teams losing a player for most of the second half. The first place Red Legends play the same Shrub Oak team again this Saturday and then have Sunday off.

The Sleepy Hollow Blaze, the defending WYSL Premier U-14 Champions, hosted their second week game this past Sunday in a high-noon match against the John Jay Purple team. Coached by John Sutherland, the Blaze were looking to continue their unbeaten streak in WYSL play.

Despite many shots on their goal, the John Jay team was able to withstand all Blaze shots until the 29th minute of the match. On that play, Blaze forward Sammi Marvin received a nice pass up the sideline from midfielder Meghan O'Hanlon. Sammi quickly dribbled and then passed across the field to Jhoselyn Pugo. Joselyn made a one-touch pass ahead to Ellie Fox. Blaze striker Ellie Fox made a nice pass off the side of her foot to Gemma Fante. Gemma used a nice kick from her left foot to wrap just beyond the leaping fingertips of the Purple goalie. The Blaze defense was particularly tough to get past in the first half of play. Blaze defensemen Juliana Marvin, Daisy Star, Zoey Murphy, and Gabby "the Minister of Defense" Disney played with both quick feet and ferocious play to deny a shot on goal.

Great passing in the second half allowed the Blaze to extend their lead. In the 70th minute of the match, Gemma Fante intercepted a goalie kick deep in the Purple half of the field, and passed to Lily Wurster. Lilly used one of her team-famous spin moves to avoid her defender and passed to a streaking Lizzie Molina. Blaze forward Lizzie one-touched to Juliana Marvin. Juliana made a high arching kick just over the Purple goalie's fingertips and just under the crossbar, making it a 2 - 0 game. Determined to mount a comeback, the Purple played with renewed fashion and were able to get several shots on goal. However, Blaze goalie Emily Aridas made every save necessary to keep the shutout intact, and her booming punts frequently put the ball back on the other side of the field for play to continue. On one such punt, Cassie Jung was able to corral the punted ball and pass up the sideline to Sami Marvin. Sami had her second assist of the day a moment later when she kicked to forward Ellie Fox. Ellie's strong low kick found the back of the net in the 82nd minute of action, putting the Blaze up 3 - 0.

3 - 0 was the final score when the whistle sounded minutes later, extending the Blaze's unbeaten WYSL streak to 12 games in Premier level play. That streak will be put on the line again next Sunday when the Blaze go on the road in a match scheduled for noon at Rye High School against the Rye Running Rock Stars.

The SHFC Boys 2008 Fusion lost 3-1 to the Doxa Wolfgang T-Wolves. It was this team's first loss since the June 2019. Fusion took the lead in minute 7 after a speedy breakaway by Josh Ortiz. However, despite many attempts throughout the game, Fusion would not score again. Doxa took the lead halfway through the game's second half and while Fusion initially appeared disheartened, they rallied and played aggressively with a lot of pressure until the final whistle.

Fusion will host the Lansdowne Yonkers Meteors at WI school field at 3pm this Sunday.

In their first game of the spring season, the Red Fury faced off against the Harrison Breakers. The Red Fury dominated in this game from start to finish, winning 4 - 1.

Mia Gurreri opened up the scoring by shooting a screamer from the 30-yard line. Tight defensive play by Sawara Ketkar and Meadow Gurreri stymied the Breaker's attacks. Excellent ball possession by Rachel Richardson and Breanne Rodriguez in midfield fed the Red Fury's attacking line of Lauren Monachelli and Maiyumi Marcus-Kanesaka in the first half, who had several shots on goal. The Breakers managed to score their only goal in the game on a breakaway but during a Red Fury attack, the Breakers gave up a hand ball in the goalie box. Sofia Cruz converted the penalty kick into the Red Fury's second goal. Rose Ritz played goalie in the first half and had a big save.

Shortly after the second half began, Sawara scored. Although the Red Fury dominated possession, there were several attacks by the Breakers and shots on the goal which were snuffed by Maiyumi. Towards the end of the game, Sofia scored her brace.

The Red Fury is coached by Katie McMahon who was unavailable for this game. Coach Kevin Richardson led the Red Fury to their win.

The Bandits came roaring out to a 2-0 start to the spring season, with a 6-2 victory over Scarsdale to follow their 7-3 season opener against Rye Brook Union last week. The team is playing with fresh confidence, showing superb communication and commitment to their positions. Melody Molina assisted a goal by Ada Chalfy to open the game, which, in addition to great coverage and massive kicks by first-half goalie Elizabeth Impastato, was followed by a big goal from midfield by Mackenzie Linhart. Ada Chalfy followed with three more goals, and Katie Yamolkas sank another beauty, to provide a comfortable cushion. The girls got to mix up their positions and flex a bit of muscle, with Marley DeFillipis, Marianna Patsch, and Natalia Hargrave providing a nearly impenetrable defense, backed up by some fearless saves by Sabrina Graham at goal in the second half. Mila Gallagher showed speed and inventiveness up front, and Noa Levine demonstrated grit and perseverance all over the field. Lily Glynn came thundering out with a big boot in the end to put the icing on the cake. Beautiful weather made this week's victory even sweeter than last week's rain-soaked mudfest...well, for the parents, at least...

The Shadows were rained out last week and faced off against Queens City in a tough first game of the season.

Duncan Barron and Cesar Blanco were all over the ball and showed speed and hustle. Nico Barbosa showed calm and poise as he demonstrated ball control. Elion Ashiru showed off his footwork and speed as he easily sailed in 2 goals for Shadows. Leo Zohar was in goal the first half and was able to save some nice shots. 2 goals slipped through his hands and halftime was called.

The second half featured Joaquin Rodriguez in goal and he was able to stop Queens City with some tough shots. Ashiru was able to work the field to score another goal. Skilled work by Denis Suqui landed another goal for Shadows bringing the score to 4-4. Luka Surguladze, Branden Wang and Andrew Lucchetti let nothing by in defense and a beautiful pass from Ashiru to Suqui resulted in Shadows final goal bringing the score to 5-4. There was a goal on Rodriguez with a delayed whistle from the ref for a handball which did not result in a qualified goal. The Shadows face off against the Riverdale Avengers on their field Sunday.

The Boys U10 All Reds kicked off their Spring '21 season on Sunday after a rainout opener the week before. Taking on the Briarcliff Buccaneers, a new division foe, the boys in red got off to a slow start. Are we a little rusty? Perhaps the snowbound winter wasn't the best way to build our running endurance??? Regardless, after a scoreless first half, the All Reds found more spark in the 2nd half and were able to put one by the Briarcliff GK for a hard earned 1-0 WIN to start the season. Matthew Zhuzhingo was the lone goal scorer. Notable goal keeping work by Elliot Scherich and Phil Coffman to keep Briarcliff off the scoreboard. The All Reds travel all the way south to Irvington next week to face Greenburgh.

The Red Devils kicked off their season with a home game against Eastchester Union Sunday afternoon with perfect game conditions. The boys were excited to hit the pitch and get back to soccer after a long winter! Eastchester started out strong, putting the Red Devils' defense to the test. Dylan Feroe, Rodrigo Figueroa, Declan Kennedy, and Henry Kromelis used swift and strong kicks on defence to send the ball up the field, and Max Muinos displayed calm athleticism, stopping a number of shots on net in the first half. On offence, David Alban, Sebastian Espinoza, JP Williamson, Asher Gaito and Johan Rodriguez put their strong footwork and top speed to use, getting several shots on net and runs up the field. The momentum paid off late in the first half with Ryan Mackiewicz scoring the teams' first goal of the season.

Dylan took his first turn in goal for the second half, putting his defensive skill to use in the net. The boys' confidence, speed, and offence picked up as the game progressed, with several completed passes and speedy runs up the field. Sebastian was awarded a penalty kick late in the second half, with a great shot that went just wide of the net. David quickly thereafter scored a second goal for the Red Devils on another penalty kick, but it wasn't enough to win the match. The final score was 5-2 for the Union. The Red Devils will host a double-header at home next weekend.