Sleepy Hollow Football Club: Week 8 Highlights

With some teams reigning champs and others with a few games pending, the Sleepy Hollow Football Club begins to wind down the Fall 2020 season. The Club is actively managing teams to keep players safe and still take advantage of the tail end of the season. Let’s look back at the November 14/15 weekend’s highlights and congratulate those who won their division. Great job, SHFC!

The Sleepy Hollow G12 Gators, coached by John Sutherland and Shiloh Mackey, got back to winning ways on Sunday against Pleasantville Stars, with a performance full of team spirit and with contributions coming from every girl on the field. A lively start saw Olivia pick up two quick goals, both struck sweetly from around the edge of the penalty area. The Gators then settled into a period of comfortable domination: their back line was well organized and resilient, with Ellis, Gabi, Kaylee and Ella breaking down each Pleasantville attack. Meanwhile Siena, Evie and Maya made several zippy runs forward on the break creating a number of decent chances, and Olivia was customarily full of energy chasing everything down in the midfield. A momentary lapse in concentration let Pleasantville back into the game with a goal toward the end of the first half, but the Gators fought back well - the resulting pressure led to a wonderful goal from Gabi, hit with her right foot from distance into the bottom corner. Ella was then unlucky to see her cute lob of the goalkeeper ruled out for offside. The second half followed much the same pattern as the first, with Gators' front line of Maeve and Avery putting the Pleasantville defense under constant pressure throughout. This eventually resulted in a penalty right at the end, which Olivia confidently put away to claim her hat-trick and seal a 4-1 win.

Team Mercury (2011 and 2012 Girls) played their 8th and final game of the fall season on Sunday, showing just as much heart and hustle as they have all season long. Despite starting the season as a new team of mostly beginner soccer players from various towns, they steadily improved as a team all season long. In this last game, Mercury worked hard as a team to facilitate a goal by Gabriella Variano in the second half. The team spent the fall season improving their ball handling and teamwork, as well as developing new friendships and will look forward to an even more dynamic spring season. Team Mercury finished the fall season with the following players: Gabriella McCarthy, Ameila Ortiz, Julia Ritter, Mia Saa, Marylin Suqui, Gabriella Variano, Ashley Villa, Brie Wolins, Kaylee Xu and Cameron Zuniga.

The Boys U10 All Reds traveled to Armonk this weekend and got a solid 4-0 win in muddy conditions. The boys in red started slow but controlled the game pretty handily throughout. This is the 3rd or 4th game in a row in which the All Reds got off to a sluggish start. As a result, all late night Minecraft and Fortnite is banned on weekends until after the season. Goal scorers were Dennis VanLent, Oliver and Elliot Scherich, and Jossuel Cece. Solid goalkeeping by Ryan McMahon and Phil Coffman. Final game (fingers crossed) next weekend against Mt. Pleasant.

The Red Fury is coached by Katie McMahon and had two games this past weekend, one on Saturday and another on Sunday. Saturday's game was against the North Salem Fighting Tigers. This game started off promising for the Red Fury with back-to-back goals by Rachel Richardson who picked off the Tigers' goal kicks. Kate Masters and Meadow Gurreri played wonderful defense and there were brilliant moments when midfielder Breanne Rodriguez connected with forwards Rose Ritz and Rachel. Meghan McMahon played goalie and had some spectacular saves, but the Tigers were able to even the score at 2-2 by half time. In the second half, the Tigers proceeded to score an additional 4 goals. However, the Red Fury persisted and towards the end of the game, Rachel connected with Breanne who struck in a goal. This game came to an end with the Red Fury losing 3-6.

Sunday's game was against the Mahopac Fusions. The Red Fury played well and aggressively with a tight defensive line of Sofia Cruz, and Mia and Meadow Gurreri. Breanne Rodriguez, Meghan McMahon and Mackenzie Linhart (on loan from the Bandits) had excellent passes throughout the game. The Red Fury and Fusions went toe to toe with Meghan, Breanne, and Mackenzie all having shots on goal that unfortunately did not go in. The Fusions, however, were able to score twice and the game ended with the Red Fury losing 0-2.

As the sky darkened, the game began between the Red Comets and White Plains Black at Washington Irving last Sunday. The Comets came out charging and played hard ball against White Plains. Amani Carty, in center midfield, had a lot of action in her territory and really made some great plays happen. About midway into the first half, a hand ball penalty was given to the opposing team which allowed for a Comet penalty kick. Midfielder, Ava Dominquez, took the kick and precisely pounded it in the White Plains goal to make it 1-0 Comets.

In the second half White Plains really put the pressure on the Comets, but they fought back and held their ground. Midfielders Giovanna Fanelli gave a pass to Ava Dominquez who then led a pass to striker, Antonia Fanelli, who flew past the White Plains defense to score via another breakaway goal to bring the score to 2-0.

About midway through the second half, White Plains was now awarded a penalty that changed the score to 2-1. And this was the game's final score for another Comet win!

Libby Block, in the defensive center midfielder spot, played an exceptional game and the Comets really showed their versatility by playing all ends of the field and communicated well amongst each other.

Striker, Ava Mendez, drove the ball to the net a few times and even had a close shot on goal that went just wide. The rest of the midfielders and defenders, Lene Cice, Leila Dillow, Paloma Dominquez, Mia Martinez and Greta Wuerrfel all played cohesively and with positive vibes. Erin Arnegger and Julia Ryan shared goalkeeper duties as well as defensive positions and both did a great job.

Boys 2008 FUSION travelled the Lansdowne Yonkers Meteors for their final game of the fall season. At about minute 10, Sebastian Londono sent a nice through pass to Josh Ortiz for Fusion's first goal. Minutes later, the Meteors evened it up at 1, when they were able to slip past Fusion's defenses. Luke Tonaj would score Fusion's second goal, thanks to an assist from Londono. When a Kieran Degen attempt on goal bounced off the goalie, Ortiz sent it in, making it 3-1 going into halftime.

The second half saw a lot of ball movement, but not much converting attempts into goals. Attempts from Sean Mackiewicz, Ian Papadopoulos, Edwin Dutan, Shyam Manganath, Raul Socualaya and Olin Keough either missed or were blocked by the Meteors' imposing keeper. Mackiewicz on a breakaway passed to Ortiz for Fusion's fourth goal and Ortiz's third of the day. With 5 minutes left to play, Dylan Largo passed to Degen, well positioned at the goal mouth, who scored the final goal to bring the final score to 5-1.

Pierce Davis played a full game for Fusion in goal, making several saves, despite mounting offensive pressure from the Meteors as the game progressed. Fusion played more defense than usual in this game, led by Aiden Lee, Luca Simbana, Luca Dominguez, Bruno Flores and Alessandro Soto. The game was well played and much closer than the 5-1 final indicated.

Fusion has won their U13 division, with a 6-0-2 record. The team only allowed 8 goals this fall, while scoring 36 goals. Coaches Ken Mackiewicz, Michael Glynn, Michael Degen, and George Papadopoulos are proud of how the team has handled all the changes this fall. Besides having to adapt to the new Covid protocols, this was the team's first season playing at a full squad of 11 at the full-sized field. This fall, Fusion merged with the River Sharks, a SHFC team of the same age group who had played together for the prior four years. Kudos to the hardworking players, and their supportive families, for an enjoyable and safe season that was a true pleasure to watch!

Fans of the BLAZE were able to see their favorite Premier Girls team play and win two games this past weekend. On Saturday afternoon, the Blaze played and defeated the Ryebrook Wildcats 5-0, in the most one-sided match of this soccer season in the division.

It was in the 14th minute of the match when Blaze forward Meghan O'Hanlon used her speed and quickness on the Wildcat's side of the field to pressure a defender to force her shot out of bounds on the endline. The resulting corner kick, taken by Blaze striker Gemma Fante from the right of the net sailed into the middle of the box towards the opposite side of the field. The Blaze's Lizzie Molina's shot attempt was blocked but Blaze forward Carina Armster's quick shot off the deflection put the Blaze ahead 1-0.

A strong rush by the Wildcats almost pulled the Wildcats even on the ensuing possession when a Wildcat forward made a strong hard free kick from just outside the box on goal. It was a good shot, but better save by Blaze goalie Emily Aridas who ensured the Blaze would stay ahead with a leaping tip to deflect the ball into the air and then catch it on the way down before any onrushing Wildcat players could make another scoring effort.

Speaking of effort, in the 32nd minute of the match, Sami "Beast Mode" Marvin dribbled through and around 3 Wildcat defenders and passed to a streaking Carina Armster who would have had a breakaway had she not been dragged down from behind in the box by a Wildcat defender. Sami's and Carina's hustle led to a penalty kick by Gemma Fante. Gemma's high velocity kick to the top corner of the net put the Blaze ahead 2-0.

Just before the half, Cassie "Instant Offense" Junge beat a wildcat player to a loose ball and passed to Sami Marvin. Sami dribbled upfield quickly around a defender for a shot on goal. While her shot was blocked out of bounds in a leaping effort from the Wildcat goalie, the ensuing corner kick by Gemma Fante was headed into the back of the Wildcat net by forward Lizzie Molina. Her goal put the Blaze ahead 3-0 at the half.

Blaze Coach John Sutherland had players switch from their normal positions to start the second half. Three minutes into the second half, Blaze forward Daisy "Hustle" Star accepted a long pass from defenseman Penny McVey. Using her extreme speed, Daisy broke away from the Wildcat defense in the middle of the field and had only the goalie to beat. The opposing goalie came running out to break up the play but rather than stop the ball, the goalie did a flying cross body check that parents recalled last seeing done by Jimmy "Super Fly" Snuka in a WWF wrestling ring. Neither Super Fly nor the goalie were awarded a Red or Yellow card for their play. When play resumed, defenseman Gemma Fante's clearing pass to midfielder Lizzie Molina started another scoring opportunity for the Blaze. Lizzie passed off the side of her foot to forward Zoey Murphy. Zoey's low, powerful shot on goal just inside the opposing post put the Blaze ahead 4-0.

Not content to let her offensive teammates take all the glory, with 8 minutes left in the match, Blaze goalie Emily Aridas rushed out from the goalie line to block an unopposed Wildcat striker's shot with her legs. Bouncing to her feet, Emily recovered in time to dive and catch a second shot on goal by the same player and keep the clean sheet intact.

Blaze players put on a clinic on how to make crisp, hard, short passes to running teammates down the stretch. After Jhoselyn Pugo intercepted a Wildcat pass in the backfield, Jhoselyn made her own pass to Sami Marvin in midfield. Sami dribbled with her head up for two steps and found Lilly Wurster further down field. Lilly dribbled towards the middle of the field and found an open Blaze forward Kimmie Molina to pass to. Kimmie one-touched the ball to Juliana "J" Marvin. J, who is generally the fastest player on the field playing defense, this time found herself using her speed on offense as a striker. Her shot on goal was true, and gave the Blaze their fifth goal of the match. The final score on Saturday was 5-0.

Sunday's game for the Blaze was against the Ravens of Castleford with first place for the season on the line. The Blaze's best scoring opportunities came from pressure by Blaze forwards Meghan O'Hanlon and Cassie "Instant Offense" Junge, who each dribbled around Raven defenders by the sideline and were able to create centering passes that were not able to be converted. Versatile Blaze midfielder/striker Lizzie Molina and Carina Armster also had several shots on goal, but all were denied by strong defensive play by the Ravens. The half ended in a 0-0 tie, pushing the determining factor for first place in the division to one half of soccer.

In the second half, the Blaze were reinforced by Penny McVey who arrived at the half, and played outstanding defense for Coach John Sutherland. Playing back and using her speed to charge balls hit over the midfielders, Penny would charge and several times a strong kick returned the ball to the offensive side of the field for the Blaze. The Ravens had the initiative for the early part of the second half, but the Blaze's strong defense, anchored by the fearsome foursome of Gabby "the Minister of Defense", the fastest player on the field Juliana "J" Marvin, Daisy "Hustle" Star and Penny McVey ensured the Ravens did not score. Also helping were the several times that goalie Emily Aridas ensured everybody could hold their breath in excitement as she ventured well out of the goalie box to knock balls either out of play and stop a Raven breakaway, or to return balls that had been cleared from the offensive side of the field by Raven defenders back onto the opponent's side of the pitch.

The last half of the second half was played almost exclusively on the Raven's side of the field. More than 10 corner kicks or throw ins were executed by the Blaze, but the Ravens defense was up to the task of stopping them. Blaze forward Sami Marvin, fed a leading pass by Meghan O'Hanlon, dribbled around the Raven defense and while her shots on goal were blocked, created several corner kick opportunities for the Blaze. The Raven defense did not break until, with less than 3 minutes remaining, Zoey Murphy intercepted a ball and passed in front of the net to forward Gemma Fante. Gemma's kick found the back corner of the net and put the Blaze ahead 1-0.

The Ravens rallied to try to tie the game, but midfielder Lilly Wurster intercepted passes intended for Raven forwards, as did Kimmy Molina who has a knack for being in the right place at the right time on the soccer field. When the final whistle sounded, it was the Blaze who left the pitch the victor.

After their 1-0 victory Sunday, the Blaze look to conclude their season as undefeated Champions in the Westchester Youth Soccer League's Girls U-14 Premier division next Sunday with a noontime game against Munay in Ossining.

Los Gauchos won a hard-fought victory, 1-0, against a true premier squad in East Ramapo Braves. Los Gauchos dominated Shots on Goal and completed the most passes with over 300 passes. Three starters were missing due to quarantine, younger players stepped up against a very strong opponent in a very high-pressure matchup of 2nd place teams. Los Gauchos play in WYSL's highest and most difficult division, Varsity Boys Premier. Twelve true premier teams compete in this super-competitive environment of fourteen teams. Los Gauchos sit in 2nd place with the only losses, each by one goal, against a much older Premier team in Spring Valley. Los Gauchos have a very dedicated squad of players and coaches, twenty-four players represent Sleepy Hollow every week. Los Gauchos Captains are Mateo, Jhonny, Pat. The team looks to finish strong with three matches left in the schedule.

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