Justin Gong Gets ready to shoot as patrick mohan backs him up. On May 3rd at the Long Island Junior Soccer Club Park, the U-12 Blazers met the Lynbrook Force in a hard-fought contest. The Blazers have had a good start to their spring season, despite losing two players to other commitments and having as many as 3 players on the DL. Last week, Brian Bingham was the only teammate benched with an injury, and the Blazers showed up in strength, taking the game to their opponent's goal time and again.

In the first half, Chris Hourmouzis was in fine passing form, as was Zach Miner. Joe Burdi made a defensive header to save a goal, then drove the ball up the field to turn the momentum. Joe Giarraputo and Justin Gong also did a great job of regaining the ball and turning it over to the offense.

Despite tough defense by Brendan Harney, Joe Torres, Aidan Logan and goalie Pat Mohan, Lynbrook managed two goals in the first half. The Blazers were unable to pick up a goal, although there were some good attempts. In one play, Jonathan Castoro made a great pass to Joe Burdi, whose shot ricocheted off the cross-bar for a heartbreaker miss. As the half ended, Joe Trapasso prevented another goal by maneuvering his opponent into the corner, where his teammates could block the shot.

In the second half, Zach Miner went into goal. Brendan Harney, always where he needs to be, cleared two balls behind Zach, early in the half, preventing goals both times and giving Zach the chance to settle in. Zach gave one of his best defensive performances ever, including a great block of a penalty kick and a lightning fast move to block a shot with his body, in a one-on-one challenge. Reed Bonvissuto took some pressure off the hard-working goalie by clearing a ball and challenging the opposition, as did Drew Pascale. Chris Stumpf ran hard up and down the field, gaining possession and keeping the ball outside.

In the end, the "Force" was with Lynbrook, and the Blazers lost 3 - 0, but the boys in the gold jerseys walked off the field proudly, knowing they had played a good game against a tough opponent, and had shown a lot of skill and teamwork. Coach Rich Harken is pleased with how the boys are playing and proud of their team spirit.