Girls grades 3 and 4 soccer
The Galaxy took on the Blizzard in the first game of the season last Wednesday. Olivia Hudson’s two first-half goals helped propel the Galaxy to the 5-0 victory. Alyssa Sweeney also added a first-half strike, and Grace Player tallied two goals after intermission. The Blizzard had some chances in both halves, mostly created by Katie Ford and Mackenzie Pelkey, but couldn’t quite get it past the stingy Galaxy defense, spearheaded by Alisa Brewer and Elise Guerrette. In Wednesday’s second game, the Hurricane got two goals within the first four minutes of the game from Taylor Williams en route to the 4-0 decision over the Tornado. Cassidy Soucier and Emma Curtis also picked up goals, while Soucier assisted on Williams’s second goal. The Tornado regrouped to produce some quality shots, but Kailee Ferris made several great saves for the Hurricane. Brittany Warner also played well in the net for the Tornado, who also got some fine play from Alexandra Michaud, Page Kidney, and Michaela Dumais.
Boys grades 3 and 4 soccer
The Missiles and Crunch tangled in the season’s first match last Tuesday. The Missiles took a 2-0 lead into halftime behind Kyle Rider’s two goals, the second of which was assisted by Byron Winslow. The second half started as the first ended, with Rider picking up his third goal. This time the assist went to Bradley Kinney, who made an outstanding pass to Rider. Sam Gray cut the lead to 3-1 when he converted on an Ed Kilcollins pass, giving the Crunch some momentum. Michael Mahon stopped that momentum when he answered with a goal of his own, making the score 4-1 in favor of the Missiles, which was how the game ended.
The Drillers and Blast also matched up last Tuesday. With the Drillers playing a man down. Isaac Devine’s pass found Josiah Morse, who in turn booted the ball past the Drillers’ goalie to give the Blast the 1-0 advantage at intermission. The Blast used some great passing to wear down the Drillers in the second half, resulting in two more goals from Morse and one each from Micah Taubin and Noah Kinney. Joseph Boone, Wyatt Kennedy and Nick Powers played great defensively for the Drillers to keep the game close.
The Drillers were looking to bounce back the following afternoon as they took on the Missiles. The Missiles took the early 1-0 lead on Kyle Rider’s league-leading fourth goal. David Kofstad tied it up for the Drillers, scoring on a breakaway. Ryan Bridges put the Drillers up 2-1 off an assist from Austin Bouchard seconds before halftime. The Missiles created several opportunities to tie it up in the second half, but couldn’t get it past the Drillers’ pesky Abram Dow and Joseph Boone. The Drillers picked up their first win of the season, holding on for the 2-1 win.
Girls grades 5 and 6 soccer
The Crew won the first game of the season, taking the 3-2 decision against the Clash. Carly Bell of the Crew and Kaleigh Kinney of the Clash swapped two goals each in the early going, as both teams created plenty of chances to score. The Crew got the eventual game-winning goal when Jordi Legassie got the ball on a breakaway and beat the Clash defense to the goal. Legassie also assisted on Bell’s second goal.
The Rapids and the Mutiny met on a soggy Thursday afternoon in their first game of the season. The Rapids jumped out to the early lead thanks to a first-half hat trick courtesy of Jenna Hallett. Amanda Palmer also found the back of the net, giving the Rapids the 4-0 halftime lead. Erin Ackerson tallied a goal in the second half to pull the Mutiny closer, but then Lydia Short scored three unanswered goals to give the Rapids the 7-1 victory.
Boys grades 5 and 6 soccer
The Strikers and Express faced off Thursday afternoon in the rain to kick off the boys’ older league. Colin McKay twice stole the ball off goal kicks, leading to goals. The Strikers took the 2-0 lead into halftime. The Express got a goal from Keeghan Lowe a few minutes into the second half to narrow the deficit to 2-1. Lowe later scored the tying goal when his corner kick found the back of the net. The game went back and forth until McKay notched his third and game-winning goal with 10 seconds left off a Cody Lyford assist to give the Strikers the 3-2 win.
In another contest, Ben Nickerson got the Sting on the scoreboard first in their duel with the Kicks. Trevor Levesque answered for the Kicks, tying the game, 1-1. However, Nickerson bounced back with two more goals, one of which came off an assist from Mitchell Kelley, as the Sting prevailed, 3-1. The Kicks’ trio of Levesque, Chase Norton, and Ryder Soucy created opportunities to cut into the lead, but those chances were squashed by the defensive efforts of Liam Hughes and Nick Raineri.
