BOYS

Tewksbury BU14- 2   6       Reading   0

The Tewksbury BU14-2 soccer team defeated Reading 6-0 in an impressive fashion on Saturday.  Due to school vacations, the Redmen played with only 10 players for the entire game.  Coaches stressed conservative play and moved the lineup around to work efficiently with only 10 players.  At the opening whistle the Redmen managed to gain control of the ball and work it up the field.  At the one minute mark Chris McCabe took a hard shot from the left side that just missed the goal.  From there the boys did not look back.  Tewksbury controlled the game keeping it mostly in the Reading half, but just couldn't convert their shots into goals.  Finally in the 25th minute, Tewksbury scored their first goal of the day on a Gary Dixon’s shot from the left side. This loosened up the play as only four minutes later Ameen Kalkhoran scored a second goal for the Redmen on a rebound from Chris’s shot.  Ameen scored one minute later again from the left side making it 3-0.  The defensive line held Reading to very little offensive pressure and allowed only a couple of shots on our goal.  Starting the second half Tewksbury kept up the pressure and again moved the ball well.  The score went to 4-0 when Ameen earned himself a hat-trick by curving a corner kick directly to the near post which rested in the back of the net after bouncing off a Reading defender.  A few minutes later Adam Colon made the score 5-0 when he took a strong shot from outside the 18 yard box.  After receiving a ball from our defenders who were now playing up the field Adam scored his second goal on a breakaway making the final 6-0 score.  Throughout the game, the Redmen broke up the Reading advances well with Gary Dixon and Cody Souza on the wings playing aggressively and challenging the ball at every turn.  Brendan Murray at forward was in on every shot and was drawing defenders inside the box. The back line of Eric Gallant, Jeffrey Carr, and Connor Dane held Reading to only a few real shots on goal and no long attacks that could produce scoring chances.  Phillip Borges, while not challenged much during the game, had a solid day in goal. The boys got a well deserved victory.  With only 10 players they played smart, worked well together, and showed confidence in themselves and their teammates.  A great win.

BU12-1            Tewksbury 5     Melrose 0

The Tewksbury Boys Under 12-1 team enjoyed a 5-0 win against Melrose.  Alex Papageorgiou led the way with the hat trick.  He scored at the 9, 28 and 37 minutes marks.  The highlight was his corner kick that curled directly into the net.  David Gammon started the scoring at the five minute mark with an assist from Alex.  Gavin Slattery tucked a nice shot into the far corner from the left side to make it 3-0.  Chris Repucci held the shutout despite some strong shots on net from Melrose in the second half.  Max Ducette had a great game as did Drew Fletcher and Connor Power.  Brian LeFabvre had some good bids on the Melrose goal as well.  Nick Borges and Patrick Carlton played tough defense and helped preserve the shutout.  David Durante also played well in his defensive assignment. 

BU10-1            Tewksbury 2                Wilmington      1

The Tewksbury Boys U10-1 team earned its first victory of the season over a strong Wilmington team 2-1.  The first half ended at 0-0, and was a very evenly matched half.  Both teams had several scoring opportunities and Tewksbury’s goal keeper Kyle Braciska made several outstanding saves to keep Wilmington scoreless.  Early in the second half Wilmington scored a goal on a ball that slip passed Tewksbury’s defender and goal keeper.  A few minutes later Tewksbury’s attack was rewarded when a shot by Noah Fleming deflected off a Wilmington player and ended up in the lower left corner of the goal.  Mid way through the second half Tewksbury took the lead when Thomas Barinelli gathered a loose ball to the right of Wilmington goal area and fired a shot into the back of the net.  Wilmington kept the pressure on for the remainder of the game; and Tewksbury’s 2^nd half goal keeper Liam Cafferty was stellar, at one point stopping a point blank shot that would have tied the game.  This victory was a true team effort supported by a strong defensive effort from Riley Auth, Sean Cunningham, and Arya Mehrabani; and great ball movement by the forwards Nick Biron, Joey Branchaud, Michael DellOrfano, Thomas Barinelli and Noah Fleming.  The boys U10-1 team moves to 1-1 in the standings.

GIRLS

GU9-1      Tewksbury 1                       Reading 0 

The Little Lady Redmen came in to the game hungry for their first win.  The first half was controlled by Tewksbury.  Goalie BrickWallBrenna Cassidy turned away everything that came her way.  Lexi Polimeno scored her first of the season to put the good guys up 1-0.  The second half the girls had multiple crosses and breakaways but just couldn't find the back of the net.  The team stepped up their game from week 1 and looking forward to a first place showdown against Melrose next week. Leading the charge on defense was Kayla Paige and Katy Macdonald.  Offensive pressure provided by Erin McIntyre, Julie Figucia, Tess Barrett, Alexis Raymond, Lexi Polimeno and Adrianna Niles.  What amazes me most about this team is that through 9 games in the fall and 2 games so far this spring, they have posted 8 shut outs.  6 straight dating back to the fall season.  Being a true U9 team, this stat is all the more remarkable.  The girls continue to go up against kids 1.5 year older and giving up a foot in height in some cases.  They are the true definition of team.

Tewksbury GU9-3       Tewksbury 3    Wilmington 1

Undermanned and down a goal, the GU 9-3 Tewksbury team battled back and scored 3 second-half goals to beat Wilmington 3-1.  Hannah Keane buried Tewksbury's first goal mid-way through the second half, and Abby MacAllister quickly followed with two more to secure the win.  Marykate Callinan, Emma Fleming, and Kaitlyn Oates played strong offensive games, while Madison Robillard was a stonewall in net

Tewksbury GU10-5 1              Burlington 5 

The Tewksbury GU10-5 Tornadoes suffered their first loss of the season against Burlington's top U10 team this weekend. Short 2 players, the remaining 8 Tornadoes stepped up and delivered a well played game that was not reflected in the final score. Tewksbury's Allison Indingaro scored the first goal of the game early in the first half with a solo shot to find the back of the Burlingtion net. Burlington responded quickly, and was able to squeak a low shot into the corner of the net past keeper Jessica Satterfield. Forwards Caitlyn Finnegan, Katherine Marquis, and Catalina Burke kept the pressure on the Burlington defense, but were unable to find the back of the Burlington net. Late in the first half, Burlington would find what would be Tewksbury's Achille's heel, capitalizing on a corner kick after an intense battle in front of the Tewksbury net.  It would be a harbinger of things to come in the second half. At the end of the first half, Burlington led Tewksbury 2-1, thanks in no small part to the defensive work of fullbacks Isabelle Carleton and Jade Owirka. Both played the entire game without rest.

During the second half, the two teams traded possession of the ball numerous times, but only Burlington would be able to score after finding the weakness in the Tewksbury defense during the first half. For the remainder of the second half, in spite of the intense defensive effort by the Tornadoes, Burlington was able to score three times, all on corner kicks. Forward Abigail Hansbury came close to scoring at least twice during the second half, but was ultimately unable to penetrate the Burlington defense.

GU12-6  Wilmington               3          Tewksbury                   1

The Tewksbury GU12-6 team lost a hard fought game against an aggressive Wilmington team. The Tewksbury girls came out a little sluggish on the field and Wilmington was able to get many scoring opportunities. Leanne Durham was able to snatch up all but one of these attacks early on to keep the game at 1-0. In the final 10 minutes of the 1^st half the untamed girls started to energize and off a direct kick by Rachel Figucia was able to tie up the game. However Wilmington was able to net one more before the half was over to take a 2-1 lead.

The 2^nd half was a different story as Tewksbury started to put on the pressure and outshot the Wilmington team two to one in the 2^nd half. The offensive pressure was put on by Leanne, Rachel, Caitlin Sheehan, Sophia DeMatos, and Rebecca Smith. Defensively Isabella Beyloune, Sarah Boudreau, Rebecca, and Kendall Donahoe all contributed to limiting the Wilmington attack. Daisha Thompson made a few saves and followed up by some picture-perfect punts. Jane Kirby and Julia Strickler also contributed especially in the midfield. In the end however the shots were just not strong enough and the Wilmington goalie was able to scoop up all scoring chances. With time winding down Wilmington scored the game-clincher for the final tally. Tewksbury looks to rebound next week with a complete game effort against a tough Hanscom team

GU14-3                       Tewksbury 1                Westford 0

In a hard fought game the Tewksbury Redmen came away with a 1-0 victory on the road against the Westford Grey Ghosts. The girls of Tewksbury came to Westford four players short. The defense played the entire game without any substitution, all the while limiting Westford with very few scoring opportunities. The defense was led by Kaleigh Bishop, Gianna DellOrfano, Stephanie McHatton and Amy Glover. Sandra Lantum was solid in net as goalkeeper in helping the Redmen post their second shutout of the season. Midfielders Catherine Ozek, Deirdre Roche and Shealagh Doherty were outstanding in coordinating the offensive attacks with the forwards all the while supporting the defense. Despite the Redmen controlling more than fifty percent of the first half, the forwards struggled finishing off any of their scoring attempts. Forwards Ashley Antonelli, Emily Stewart, Julianna Wahl, Robin Czarniecki, and Karina Crowley had many opportunities but by the end of the half it was a frustrating 0-0 score.

The second half of play saw the girls from Tewksbury take almost complete control of the game. It wasn’t until about fifteen minutes into the second half that Tewksbury finally scored. Karina Crowley, on a pass from Emily Stewart, put a shot past the goalkeeper of Westford for the 1-0 lead. Despite many efforts and a lot of near misses to add to the lead the score remained the same to the end of the game.

It was once again a great team effort by all players. Tewksbury will play Wilmington at home next week.

GU14-2   Tewksbury   4                      Westford 0

The Redmen came out a bit sluggish but picked up the tempo quickly as the forwards started to pound the Westford goalie. They were finally rewarded for the efforts when Emily Sessa bent a corner kick for an unassisted goal to end the half.  This is just what the Redmen needed to open the scoring.  The first half ended and the Tewksbury defense made up of Victoria Mirabito, Sam Surowiec, Kelly Fortier, and Stephanie Travis kept the ball well away from Gilbert in the first half and Gilbert didn’t need to make a save.

In the second half Allison Piricini made a nice pass to Kayla Devlin who set up Sarah Baptista.  Sarah kicked a bomb over the goalies head for her first goal of the young season.  With the score now 2-0 Gilbert saw a few shots and she made some great saves on all of them.  The game started to get very physical but the Redmen were not going to be intimidated. Tayler Laycox joined the defense and held her ground as they continued to frustrate the Westford offense.  Surowiec then moved the ball forward to Ashley Figucia who hit a streaking Madison Wescott to put the Redmen ahead by 3. Figucia set up Wescott again who finished strong and the final whistle blew and Gilbert earned her first shut out of the season 4-0.  The team travels to Woburn next weekend.

GU14-1   Wilmington-1           Tewksbury-0

The GU14-1 team traveled to Wilmington for a Saturday Morning game. For the second straight week the girls played their hearts out and came up just short.   The girls went into the ½ tied at 0-0 but not without having scoring chances. This game was intense from beginning to end, up and down action and the game not being decided until a loose ball off a corner kick trickled into the Tewksbury net with 5 minutes left to give the hosts a 1-0 lead. Even then, the girls didn’t give up and put it in high gear to get the game back.  With one minute left one more feverish rush down the field resulted in a ball going off the crossbar to keep the Redmen girls winless. The defense for Tewksbury was intense in this game.  Estelle Penta, Sara Catanzano and Haley Pozzuto who all played the entire game were stellar.  Nicole Malfa and Michelle Farraher nailed down the middle and Taylor Donahoe was a physical presence in the middle of the field. Janina Kennedy came up big with some key saves.  The girls travel to Wobur