2008 Londonderry Tournament Wrap-up

The Derry Eagles program was well represented in the recent Labor Day Weekend tournament in Londonderry with about 14 teams participating throughout all age divisions. Below are summary reports submitted by coaches.

U10 Girls

Both of my girls teams played extremely well. Both U 10 teams won all games played and the U 10 Green team (8v8) were the U 11 Girls D1 Champions. Here are the highlights.

U 10 White (6v6)
All games played were tight matches. 1-2 goals separated each game that we played. Excellent defense by Caitlin Menzie, Kyra Stariknok and Melanie Roberge and strong keeper play by Hannah Gardner and Julia Bousquet kept opponents to 1 or 2 goals for each of the 4 games we played. Up front, we saw newcomer, Samantha Donahue, making some great runs up the field. Sarah McLaughlin and Danielle Tompkins moved the ball well and scored two nice goals. Alyssa Ferreras showed her speed this weekend and chased down and won many loose balls. Our passing and communication on the field helped the girls to control the ball for most of all the games.

U 10 Green (8v8)
This team is playing up at the U 11 age level this season at the Division 1 level. This looked to be a challenge for the girls and going into the Londonderry Tournament it was to be the first test for them. Sat morning we pulled the 7:30 AM game against Londonderry. At the half we were tied 1-1, with Londonderry scoring on a PK towards the end of the half. The girls came together and scored 5 goals in the second half to win 6-1. The second game was against Cheshire United. Again, the first half ended in a 1-1 tie with Gretchen McGrath scoring from a thru ball from Erica Parent with seconds left in the first half. Once again the girls came roaring back in the second half and scored 4 goals to notch our second win at 5-1. The prettiest goal coming from an defense splitting cross from Rachel Wood to a streaking Grace Quaratiello who netted a left footed shot into the far corner. Sunday morning we started at 8:30 AM and played Hampton Attack. We finished this game with a 4-0 win and controlled the ball for most of the game. Our final and championship game was against NH Classics. This time the girls came out stronger in the first half and scored 2 goals. Grace Quaratiello and Emma Davis both netted crosses from Rachel Wood. The second half, the Classics came out hard and pushed to score but strong mid field play by Mackenzie Donovan, Allyson O'Neil and our keeper Hannah Gardner, held our opponent scoreless. We won the game 2-0. For the weekend we scored 17 goals by seven different players and allowed 2 goals against (one being a PK). Great start of the season for these girls.

U11 Girls

The Eagles GU11 team opened up against Natick, MA, on Saturday and faced the toughest competition in the division. The girls spotted the Natick team 2 goals rather quickly but controlled the ball in their end most of the first half. Scoring opportunities were plentiful from Kelly Murphy, Keara Doolin, and Hannah Lynch but the ball could not find the back of the net. It was encouraging to see the girls continue to work hard and never give up throughout the entire match. In the second half, both teams exchanged goals (Bianca Herlihy) ending the match 3-1 for Natick. Their second match was against a Bedford U10 team playing up an age level. It was apparent after the first few minutes the Derry girls were overpowering the Bedford team and we made many position changes while also encouraging the girls to “only score with their left” and play keep-away. The end score was 3-1 and that would come back to bite us in the tie-breaker rules. Our 7:30am Sunday game against Amherst was a very spirited match carrying over from a Memorial Day game. We match up very well with them and it seems to be a great game each time we meet. Considering the early morning start, the girls came out fired up and played well in all areas. The grass was still wet and the ball was flying around pretty fast for them. Gabby Guerard found Keara Doolin on a cross and she put it in the net for a first half score of 1-0. The second half was more like the first and the teams were exchanging control as the midfielders and defenders from each team were playing great. Catherine Goodwin and Sabrina Thomas made numerous tackles and smart ball-controlling moves and passes. Molly Girngras shared keeper duty with Hannah Lynch and both played great. With 30 seconds left in the game, a tripping call on Derry resulted in a PK for Amherst. Hannah Lynch made a great save on a very hard but direct shot on her. She punted to the other field and time ran out. Although the Derry girls record was tied with Amherst for second place in points, Amherst had 1 additional goal in the goal differential, the first tie-breaker rule for this tournament. Therefore, Amherst went on to meet Natick in the Championship game. Natick won the Championship game 3-2. With 7 girls on the team still in their first year of Eagles soccer, it was great to see how they are developing as a team. We’re looking forward to our first regular season match this Saturday at Rider field against…Amherst.

U11 Boys

The U11 Boys team faced a number of tough Division I teams in the Londonderry tournament. After getting out to an early 1-0 lead when Julian Noj put in an early rebound, the boys couldn't hold off a talented Londonderry team that would eventually go on to win the championship.

In the second game, the team earned a 1-1 tie against an evenly-matched Oyster River team. Bernard Suwirjo chipped a goal past the Oyster River keeper after a deep pass from sweeper Marshall Halpin. Trevor Morrison played excellent keeper for the Eagles to hold on for the tie.

In the final game, the Concord Express team scored two quick goals in the first half and were looking to increase that lead in order to get into the championship game. But, the Eagles had other plans. With outstanding one-on-one play by Davon Nordelus and a complete team effort on defense, the Eagles were able to shut down the Concord offense and maintain the 0-2 score.

U13 Girls

The Girls U13 team had a good start of the tournament winning the first game against Londonderry 3-1 and winning the second game against Fremont 5-0. On Sunday, the girls matched up well and played a good game against the D2 Champion Scarborough team, however, we could not capitalize on any of scoring opportunities and lost 2-0. The loss kept us out of the Championships. A worthy note regarding our games, in the last two games we started out with 14 girls and at halftime two of the four U12 players were released to play in their conflicting U12 game. This left us with three subs for the first half and one sub for the remaining half for these games. Although we realized going into the tournament our roster was depleted, we did not know how the girls would fair. We now know… and with our full roster I believe our last game would have been a different outcome.

U13 Boys

The U13 boys did well this weekend playing in there second Div 1 tournament. They tied Oyster river 2-2, beat Dover 1-0 and lost to a very good Concord team 3-0.

All players played well including the boys who are new to our team. Each player contributed at some point in all the games showing value in team play.

I told the boys this was good for them because now we know they are not the best and we have a goal to work for. We also took this opportunity to get Steve's feet wet on the sideline as team leader.

U14 Girls

The Girls U14 team defended its Londonderry Championship with a hard-fought win over Concord Express 3-1. The team was lucky to advance to the championship, as it dropped its first game 2-1 to Natick. Apparently the off-season rest lasted a little too long into the season. The team bounced back in the second half of its second game. Down 1-0, and feeling the wrath of their coach, they scored 3 goals to take victory 3-1 over Scarborough.

On Sunday morning, the girls defeated Timberlane 4-1. The game was highlighted by what might have been one of the prettiest goals this team has ever seen scored. Haley Hicks received a ball at about 40 yards out in the air, headed it up, took it off her chest, and then volleyed it into the net (just under the cross bar). The ball never touched the ground from the time she first touched it until it dropped in the back of the goal.

Thanks to a Natick tie and loss, the team was able to sneak into the finals. Concord, which was undefeated was a very worthy opponent. Sam Breslin beat a defender early, and scored on a beautiful shot from about 30 yards out. Maura Kane, the goalie for the first half, made a spectacular save of a corner. Haley Hicks hit a shot in the second half to the corner, that put Derry up 2-0.

Concord stormed back, and scored with about 10 minutes remaining with a beautiful header off a cross just out of Sam Breslin's reach. With five minutes to play, Maggie Cohoon took a pass, split two defenders, and ripped a shot into the far right corner sealing the win.

The Girls U14 team has 16 players this year, and each one contributed to the championship. They now prepare for a very interesting regular season against the Premier teams in New Hampshire and Maine.