U-11 Demons Win 1st Place In Windsor

The Demons celebrate being number one".

The U-11 Garden City Demons traveled to Windsor, Connecticut last weekend to compete in the annual Paul R. Cody soccer tournament. Under clear skies and perfect playing conditions, the Demons took on teams from West Hartford, Wilton, Windsor, and Shelton, Connecticut in an 11v11 format, a first for the Demons. It would be a tall order particularly because the Demons had just 12 players participating in the five game tournament. As if driving 133 miles to verse Connecticut teams wasn't enough, the boys even had to play against their brothers, the U-11 Garden City Scorpions, who were also members of their tournament bracket. After three days of competition, the Demons won the 1st place trophy by registering 5 wins against 0 losses.

Day one of competition began at 9am in 40-degree temperatures, as the first opponent was the West Hartford White. The Demons took control from the opening whistle and commenced their attack. Matthew Rogers carrying the ball down the far sideline crossed to Mike Randazzo who scored to give the Demons the early lead. Shortly after, Dale Stasco took a corner kick that was headed to Randazzo who fired a one timer on net. The goalie made the save but Peter Escribano, who enjoyed a fine tournament scored on the rebound and the score at the end of the half was 2-0 Demons. West Hartford settled down to contain the Demons for much of the 2nd half, but Matthew Rogers netted his second of the game off a beauty of a lead pass by Jack Tigh and the Demons had themselves a 3-0 lead. The boys increased this minutes later as Jack Gillan converted a loose ball into a goal with some help from Danny Simmons. The Demons won the game 4-0.

The second game of Day 1 was against the tough Windsor Bulldogs who play an aggressive, attacking style. This team possessed size through the middle as well as speed at both wings. The Demons struck first as Gregory Vouzianas converted on the rebound of his own penalty kick after Mike Randazzo was fouled in the box by the Bulldog goalkeeper. The action was back and forth throughout the first half and Demon goalkeeper Ray Leto was called on numerous times to make key saves but the Bulldogs tenacity lead to a goal which knotted the score. Striker Matthew Rogers scored the Demons second goal of the game on a nice play started by Will Harrington. As Harrington threw the ball in to Vouzianas in Bulldog territory, his pass to Peter Escribano went for a shot at the goal. The shanked shot went to Rogers who blasted it into the net for a 2-1 advantage. In the second half the Demons were awarded a direct kick just outside the eighteen. Dale Stasco struck the ball over the wall of Bulldog defenders to Greg Vouzianas who scored his second of the game for a 3-1 Demons lead. The feisty Bulldogs showed no quit as their strikers battled hard against Mark DeSantis, Jack Tigh and Will Harrington. With minutes remaining in the game, the Bulldogs caught the Demons napping on a direct kick set up and scored to pull to within 3-2 and that was the final score.

Day 2 featured the Demons matched up against the Garden City Scorpions. Aside from playing a couple of friendly scrimmages, these two teams have not played against each other in competition and it was a match that some were not exactly looking forward to. Prior to kickoff, parents of players on both teams were seen shaking hands, laughing and chatting away. This was not so once the opening whistle sounded. The battle lines were drawn and the match was under way. The player of the game had to be Scorpions goalkeeper Robert Wotczak. He was under siege from the get go and he stopped several shots by Matt Rogers, Danny Simmons and Peter Escribano before yielding one to Jack Gillan who finished on nice cross by Rogers. The Demons struck again minutes later as Dale Stasco lofted a corner kick right to Rogers who one-timed it into the net for a 2-0 Demons lead. The Scorpions had their work cut out for them as the Demons came knocking once again winning another corner kick. The goalkeeper bobbled Dale Stasco's kick and the ball squirted out to Jack Tigh who found Greg Vouzianas for a one-timer that was headed off the goal line beautifully by fullback Drew Kiley. Kiley's header came out to Danny Simmons who spotted Matt Rogers who scored his second of the game. In the second half, the Scorpions came out challenging and won a number of 50/50 balls. During one sequence, Joe Torres found streaking Michael Catalano weaving his way through the Demons defense en route to the goal. He was fouled in the penalty area and awarded a penalty shot, which was stopped by Kevin Mullin. Minutes later Peter Escribano sent a neat through pass to striker Ray Leto who scored to increase the Demons lead to 4-0. With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game Will Harrington raced down the opposing far sideline with the ball and tried to send a cross into the box. Joe Burdi blocked the attempt and his clearing pass was intercepted by Mark DeSantis who scored to complete the Demons victory.

Much of the Demons team later convened at a local Go Kart track for some NASCAR style racing fun. Crazy Dale Earnhardt Stasco certainly earned his racing stripes by taking hair pinned turns with reckless abandon. Kevin "Ricky Bobby" Mullin raced at a stalkers pace wreaking havoc on the other drivers. Coach Gillan and son Jack experienced a car wreck as did Greg Vouzianas, John Leto as well as Matthew Rogers who at one point ran out of gas. Ray Leto, aka Jeff Gordon and Will "Rusty Wallace" Harrington came away unscathed at the finish line. After experiencing Talladega, the boys hit the hotel pool for some more fun.

The final day of the tournament featured the Demons playing the Wilton B team in a game that had to be rescheduled from the previous day. The Demons used this game to sharpen their one and two-touch passing game and the boys displayed textbook moves. Peter Escribano scored in the opening minutes and strikers Greg Vouzianas, Kevin Mullin, and Danny Simmons put sustained pressure on the Wilton defense. Garden City was shooting at will and if not for the Wilton goalkeeper making some remarkable saves, the game would have been out of reach very early. During one sequence, Will Harrington fed Mike Randazzo who one-timed a shot that the goalie made a huge save on. Jack Gillan, playing up front with Harrington and Randazzo nearly converted two in close chances off terrific crosses. Several minutes later, Matt Rogers made a nice pass to Harrington who buried it for a 2-0 Demons lead. In the second half, the Demons converted on a nifty tic-tack-toe passing play started by Rogers to Simmons to Mullin for a score! The final was 3-0 Demons.

With four wins in four games, the only team standing in the way of a perfect finish was the Shelton Sharks. The Demons last saw Shelton in a rain soaked abbreviated tournament game last season. If there was any doubt the Demons would be up for this game after just finishing their game against Wilton, the boys quickly convinced the fans that they had plenty left in their tanks. Shelton possessed good size in their line-up and they too used a one and two-touch approach to passing, but it was the Demons speed and tenacity coupled with patience and good ball control that carried them through the game. Kevin Mullin and Dale Stasco once again displaying aggressiveness and hustle were forces for the Demons. In the first half, Mullin won a ball near the sideline, and when challenged, dished the ball back to Greg Vouzianas. Vouzianas spotted Matt Rogers alone at the top of the eighteen and gave him the ball. Rogers then fired a rocket into the top of the net for a 1-0 Demons lead. Both teams did well to keep the ball wide of midfield and the strikers for both squads were in for an endurance test in the 80-degree heat. This is where Tom Gillan's conditioning program paid off. The boys did not stop hustling. Shelton nearly tied the game on a long pass to a striker who slipped behind the Demon fullbacks. He deposited the ball into the net but the goal was negated by an offside call. Vouzianas scored near the end of the first half to give the Demons a 2-0 lead. The clincher came on a rush up the sideline by Matt Rogers whose shot was blocked back to him by a defender. The ball rebounded off Rogers to Jack Gillan who one touched it into the goal and the Demons had themselves another clean sheet victory and 1st place finish.

Kudos go to Jack Tigh and Danny Simmons who after the second day of the tournament, drove back to Garden City to play in a football game and then made the two plus hours trip back up to Windsor to play in the two remaining games. Now that's dedication! We also appreciate the shuttle driver, John Simmons. Congratulations to Coach Tom Gillan and Chris Vouzianas on a fabulous tournament. They had the boys firing on all cylinders.