MWV Soccer Club Busy Week of Highlights

By John Skelton

Mount Washington Valley Soccer Club's 24 Sunday Valley League teams enjoyed sunny weather and warm temperatures for their regular season opening games this past weekend. Guest Coach Rob Wright of PlaySoccer opened the day with a dynamic coaching clinic, sharing several dribbling games with the all volunteer coaches. U6 players got numerous ball touches, using these dribbling games. U8 Division worked on dribbling skills before their 4 v 4 games which emphasized the team shape of a diamond.In U10 6 v 6 games, several players shone. Red's Codie Crawford scored to get his team off to a blazing start. Yellow's Kurt Niiler played stellar defense. On orange, Michael Lautenschlager's speed and agility was as good as it gets. For Turquoise, Zackery Mannix scored a show stopping goal. Lime's Courtney Colaluca showed versatility, juggling offense and defense with ease.In U13 opening games of League play, the blue team was led by Chris Low's hat trick scoring effort in a 4-3 win over yellow, who was led by hard-running midfielder Ryan Wilson. Red's Molly-Anne Shannon showed tactical expertise, with back passes confounding the opposition. Dylan Murphy made an awesome defensive play to prevent a goal for team Orange.Travel teams opened the weekend with U10s and U12 Boys and Girls facing stiff opposition at the Gorham (Maine) May Madness Tournament. Coed U10s, in non-result oriented play, kicked off against four experienced Maine boys teams and improved throughout the day. Matt Stryker netted the team's only goal; Tanner Van Coesant, Austin Bernier and Meghan Davis had bright spots in goal and on defense. Coaches Fred Tinkham and Gina Miller kept positive spirits and capped off the evening with a team pizza party. U12 Boys earned improving results with each match. After two shutout losses, coach Tony Marrone's "Muffin Men" dropped a tough 2-1 decision to Gorham before ending on a winning note with a 3-2 victory over Westbrook. Goalscorers included Zach Switaj, Chris Low and Taylor Cyr (two). Peter Flavin and Jordan Cargill had solid stints in goal while Doug Fichera was a stalwart on defense. The U12 Girls tied Merrymeeting 1-1 in their 7:30 Am opener on a Kate McGrath goal, before losing to Gorham, 2-1 (Caitlin Zeliff scored) and being shutout by eventual group champion Terriers. Lydia Gill, Becca Skelton and Maddie Smith played sound goalkeeper and showed great energy as field players.In Seacoast League play, U18 Boys were shut out 4-0 by a classy Phantoms team. They host Barrington Sunday at noon at Kennett High School. U14 Girls improved to 2-0 with their second 2-0 win, over Oyster River on Sunday at Brett School. Jody Eastwood and Ashley Gordon scored goals in the all-around team effort. Kim Franke and Cozie Mitchell, while playing solid defense in the zonal back four, also supported the offense with several dangerous overlaps and crossing service. The team is peaking for their Open Cup quarterfinal match at 1:30 on Saturday at the Brett School. The U14 Boys dominated Rochester YSA in a 6-0 victory last Saturday. Casper Van Coesant was creative in midfield and provided four assists. Ari Jackson had two goals and Teo Jackson had a goal and an assist. Sam Burroughs and Mike Skelton split the goalkeeper duties to earn the shutout, with strong defensive efforts by Buddy Moore and Teddy Nutting on the backline.