Fireballs Undefeated At East Meadow

Christina Cesarini flies high and just misses the cross.

The girls U-15 Fireballs returned to action this past weekend at the annual season opening East Meadow Ref Fuel/Covanta Tournament. And the girls didn't disappoint - staying undefeated, coming up with three shutouts and finishing in a first place tie - another tournament victory for the Fireballs to add to their long list of accomplishments.

The Fireballs had a record of two wins and three ties; only allowing two goals in the five games. Oh, and by the way, this was all accomplished after the girls were asked to move up to play in the Platinum Division against topflight competition. When asked to move up to this division at the last minute, the girls accepted the offer with no hesitation. Always looking to stretch themselves and battle at any level, the girls actually looked forward to the challenge; and they didn't fare too badly either!

GC headed into the tournament with the girls having little training time together, although many were primed for getting back into soccer action with summer soccer camps finishing up and high school tryouts in full swing. Coaches Malhame and Rotondo like to use this tournament as formal training sessions to work on different looks, to get the girls back into playing conditions and to integrate any new players. Well, it seemed to work out even better than planned, since the girls not only played winning soccer, they at times played dominating soccer.

Joanna Matuza grabs the loose ball in traffic with Kim Verderber in support.

On a somewhat hot and muggy Saturday (maybe a little bit of an understatement), the girls battled the Smithtown Patriots and Massapequa Freedom. The Patriots were coming off an undefeated season last year and looked to be a good first test. And they were. The Fireballs dominated the ball but had trouble penetrating a stingy Smithtown defense but were able to get the only goal of the game in a 1-0 Fireball win. In the second match against the Freedom, a top tier team in division 1, GC was able to break on top early and maintain control for the majority of the match. But with about 8 minutes left the Freedom were able to poke through a goal to even the match.

Jackie Wisniewski with solid defense

The girls returned on Sunday to take on past rivals, the Albertson Fury and Lake Grove Storm, before finishing up against the LaGrange Fire. Not getting much of a break with the weather the girls knew they had a tough day in front of them. The Fireballs also had some nagging injuries to deal with on Sunday; and with a shorter bench, they had to really reach within themselves to battle throughout the day. Game 1 against Albertson was a typically hard fought match that saw the Fireballs hit the cross bar and the outside pipes twice, have a goal called back on a phantom off sides call after the goalie made a save, as well as several other questionable calls. The result, a nil - nil score. In game 2 the Fireballs renewed an old rivalry by lacing up against the Lake Grove Storm and took it to them by a 2-1 margin. If not for a very athletic keeper, the Fireballs could have extended their margin of victory several times.

Christine Malhame turns the ball back up field.

The final game of the tournament put the Fireballs against co-leader LaGrange in a battle of undefeated teams. This match also featured two very tired teams after having played 4 games in grueling weather conditions. As expected this match was played mostly in the midfield with scoring chances coming as a result of counterattacks. But with two solid goalies and unrelenting defenses, the game ended in a 0-0 tie.

For the Fireballs, the defense was led by keeper Joanna Matuza, fronted by sweeper Michelle Rotondo, backs Kim Verderber, Amanda Murolo and newcomer Jackie Wisniewski, and stoppers Christine Malhame and Shannon McWilliams. Joanna in particular was on her game this weekend with some outstanding saves and quick reactions to the ball.

If game balls were to be given out there would have to be 14 for the Fireballs who played amazing as a team; but consistently appearing in the middle of almost every attack was Christina Cesarini. Making terrific runs, firing shots from all angles and taking in-credible corner kicks all weekend. The cry of the opposing coach still rings in our ears - mark number 6! But as Cez will tell you, without Courtney Chmil's relentless work and some of the prettiest through balls it wouldn't look so easy. Playing consistently strong soc-cer in the midfield and up front were Victoria Aldrich, Daniella Sampram, Monique Roberge, Meaghan Walsh and new-comer Erin Dean. The only down side to the weekend was not having Katie Reilly on the field because of an injury during the off season - get back soon Katie.

Courtney Chmil shoulder to shoulder gets the ball.

The girls have hopefully made it through high school tryouts this week (good luck there) and then head into both the school and travel seasons in the next two weeks. For the travel season, the Fireball girls are setting the bar even higher for this season and will look to keep their string of ten continuous winning seasons going. Continued success girls!

Meaghan Walsh with support of Amanda Murolo Michelle Rotondo clears the ball from in front of Jo. Erin Dean, Daniella Sampram and Victoria Aldrich celebrate a goal.