Sleepy Hollow Football Club: Week 5 Highlights

Sleepy Hollow Football Club wrapped up week five of the Fall 2020 season. Here are the most recent results for several of our SHFC teams:

This past Sunday, the Red Devils traveled to South Salem to play John Jay's B2012 team. The Red Devils played a strong game, exhibiting great teamwork and continued week-after-week improvement, but it wasn't enough to conquer the game, losing 4:1 in the end. Marco Robilotto, Henry Kromelis, and David Alban stood out on offense, utilizing their speed, footwork, and grit, while Rodriguo Figueroa, Dylan Feroe, and Max Muinos dug in on defense, stopping several attacks on net with a strong and confident force. Sebastian Espinoza scored for the Red Devils in the last seconds of the first half to put the Red Devils on the board. In the second half of the game, the Red Devils played end-to-end soccer, and goalkeeper Ryan Mackiewicz and his defensive team prevented any further goals from John Jay. Next week, the Red Devils look forward to the start of their 4-game home advantage stretch.

The Boys Under-10 All Reds had a bye week but picked up a scrimmage in Massachusetts...uh, I mean... Mahopac, against a team from their division from last season. The leaves were beautiful on the drive up the Taconic.... The All Reds played a spirited first half scoring 4 goals. Oliver Scherich notched 2 goals, Ryck Van Lent added one goal, and the 4th goal scorer could not be verified by press time but was undoubtedly the beneficiary of a sensational team effort. The second half featured stronger play by the Mahopac squad and they were able to get 3 goals against the mighty All Reds but the final result was a 4-3 win for the team from Sleepy Hollow. The takeway for the All Reds is that, in the words of Coach Ben Neilson, "soccer requires two great halves, not just one." This Fall the All Reds have won 2 scrimmages and 2 of their regular season games after having only won 1 game all of last season. The level of improvement is encouraging. Next Sunday, the All Reds face off at home against Greenburg in a rematch of a 3-3 draw from early in the season.

FUSION took to the field at 9am on a chilly Sunday morning to host the Pelham Pirates. Despite the cold, Fusion started off hot. In minute three, Sean Mackiewicz sent a corner kick to Luke Tonaj, whose deflected attempt was sent in by Sebastian Londono. Additional attempts in the next few minutes came from Tonaj, Eoghan Glynn, Ian Papadopoulos, and Dylan Pasato. Mackiewicz would score about ten minutes later on a breakaway, then pressure from Kieran Degen at the goal mouth resulted in a third goal going into halftime.

Immediately into the second half, again Londono would score on a breakaway. Minutes later, Degen would score again. Edwin Dutan, Aiden Lee, and Jayden Perez also had attempts at goal. In a series of swift passes, Lee sent to Papadopoulos to Pierce Davis for the score. Davis had played the first half as goalie, saving two attempts headed his way. Jonathan Figeroa played as second half goalie, again keeping all shots out of the net. The final score was 6-0.

Fusion controlled possession and the pace of play. Pelham, who were amiable opponents and played hard throughout, did not have ample substitutes and the game was an obvious mismatch from the outset. Many players rotated through defense, but notable efforts came from Bruno Flores, Luca Simbana, Luca Dominguez, Raul Socualaya and Dylan Largo. Coaches Ken Mackiewicz, Michael Glynn, and Michael Degen did a great job of rotating Fusion's deep bench, allowing all to play, with many players trying out positions at which they do not normally play, and all left the game feeling happy with a true team effort.

On Sunday, Fusion travel to the Chappaqua Hawks, who are currently leading the division. Fusion, at 4-0-1, trails just behind them and is looking forward to a challenging game between two undefeated teams.

The Boys JV Red Legends defeated second place Yonkers 4-1. With two games left in the season the boys will only need to secure a tie to be back to back premier champions. Christopher Panjon started scoring off a Frank Mendieta JR assist 15 minutes into the game. The Red Legends appeared to take firm control when Kenneth Suqui scored from a powerful distance-shot 30 minutes into the game. Early in the second half the Yonkers Vipers struck back with a score and temporarily took momentum and control. The Red Legends are champions and knew how to respond. Frank scored from 15 yards out on the left killing Yonkers’ will to fight. Aiden Smith then turned on the afterburners and blew by two defenders getting the fourth final insurance goal. As the boys are favored to win their next two games and only need one draw...... a second premier championship seems likely for coach Frank Mendieta’s and Cedric Smith’s talented squad.

The Girls Varsity Mustangs had a scheduled bye week but the West Side Red Bulls Manhattan club challenged the girls to a scrimmage. The Red Bulls bit off more than they could chew as the injury depleted Mustangs took care of business 5-0. Arianna Vizcaino led all scorers with with a 3 goal hat-trick. The terrorized Red Bull keeper literally screamed at one point “please don’t let her shoot!” Shea Bertolacci from the SHFC Red Angels volunteered to help as nine Mustangs were unable to attend. Shea scored off a Juliana Largess rebound and had the most hustle of any player on the field, creating several opportunities for her teammates, despite playing her second game of the day. Juliana scored a goal as well and even contributed on defense as three defensive starters were out. Keeper Lauren Koch also volunteered to play from the Red Angels and kept the clean sheet. Lily Rodriguez, Vanessa Silva, Jaime Sicha, Isabella Chambers, Juliana, Arianna, Shea, Evelin Cha Cha, Sophia Khosrowshahi and Nataly Parraga all contributed on defense and earned the shutout. Special thanks goes to Fergus O’Sullivan for refereeing and to Nataly, Shea, and Lauren for volunteering to play a second game. The Mustangs were also excited to welcome back to the team Evelyn and Sophia who are enrolled in college from home but still young enough to participate in the varsity league. The first place Mustangs return to official action next week when they travel to the Bronx to take on the third place Rising Stars.

For more information about SHFC, please visit http://www.sleepyhollowfc.com.