In the Thanksgiving Tournament hosted by their new home league,
SSJYSL, the Tornadoes again showed their team strength as they
placed third in a very good field.
In the Thanksgiving Tournament hosted by their new home league, SSJYSL, the Tornadoes again showed their team strength as they placed third in a very good field. The Tornadoes swept their first two games on Saturday, and entered Sunday‚s play tied in points with the Walnut Creek Strikers. A win or a tie would have put the Tornadoes in the championship game, but a somewhat unfortunate goal left the Tornadoes on the short end of a 1-0 score against the eventual tournament champion Strikers. Following are the results:
SSJYSL TORNADOES 2, DVSC RED FREEDOM 1
The Tornadoes started out a bit slow as has become their custom, leaving the score tied 0-0 at the half. The Tornadoes took a 1-0 lead when Taylor Johnson followed up a Bella Comin shot that the Freedom goalie could not control. The Freedom came back to tie the score at 1-1 with a bullet from the left wing, and the Tornadoes were in trouble as they battled the weekend-long strong wind at the complex. Alex Seda came through for the Tornadoes with a curving shot from the left side that slid inside the post to give the Tornadoes the 2-1 victory.
SSJYSL TORNADOES 3, SAN CARLOS INFERNO 0
The Tornadoes got down to business against the Inferno, getting the maximum number of available tournament points. The Tornadoes‚ first goal came on a direct kick by JC Clayton after Taylor Johnson was fouled. The second goal came as a result of another foul against Johnson, a recurring theme in the tournament as opponents struggled to keep up with the Tornadoes‚ diminutive whirlwind.
The second foul was in the box, and Johnson cashed the PK for the 2-0 lead. The final goal came on a nice full field run by Clayton.
SSJYSL TORNADOES 0, WALNUT CREEK STRIKERS 1
By virtue of a single goal, the Tornadoes needed only a tie to advance to the finals. Both teams had the same total tournament points and goal differential (the first tie breaker). The Tornadoes led by one in the second tiebreaker, total goals. The Tornadoes started with the wind and put great pressure on the Strikers early.
The Tornadoes had some excellent early scoring opportunities, but were unable to capitalize. The Strikers broke through when the Tornadoes were unable to control the ball in front of their net, and a Striker player ended up with the ball and an open net for a 1-0 lead, and that turned out to be enough.
SSJYSL TORNADOES 2, SSJYSL POWER 0
The third-place game found the Tornadoes matched against their sister team from SSJYSL. Although the Tornadoes were clearly dispirited from their earlier loss, they ground out a workmanlike 2-0 win.
The Tornadoes scored first when JC Clayton fired a through ball ahead to the ever dangerous Taylor Johnson. Johnson took yet another hit in the penalty box for a Power foul, and netted the PK for the 1-0 lead. The key play of the game came when the Tornadoes were called for a penalty box foul, giving the Power a golden opportunity to tie it up.
Goalie Nichole Downing made a great save on the shot, guessing right and diving that way to stop the kick. Downing controlled the ball to preserve the lead and buoy the spirits of the Tornadoes.
The Tornadoes tacked on the insurance goal later after a long out by Downing was sent back by Clayton to Amanda Whitling.
Whitling made a nice lead pass back ahead to Clayton, and Clayton beat a Power defender and drilled the ball into the goal.
OVYSL Sting win, tie, lose at District Cup
The Orchard Valley Youth Soccer League’s Sting girls soccer team played three games at the District Cup tourney in Cupertino Nov. 20-21. The Sting opened District Cup play against the San Jose Hotshots with a 0-0 tie. The game was a defensive struggle throughout. Sting goalie Katelynn Hughes stopped all Hotshot attempts for the shutout. Samantha Martin, Caitlin Azevedo and Kayla Cisneroz provided a tight-knit defense turning back the Hotshot offense.
The Sting dropped the second game 3-0 to the Burlingame Flame. But the Sting bounced back the second day with a 2-0 shutout over the Marina Aztecas.
On the first goal, Nicole Locicero made a precise pass to Lauren Schmidt, who passed to an open Jennifer Protsman, who fired the ball at the Aztecas goalie. The ball bounced off the goalie’s hands towards Locicero, who had circled back to inside the box for the score.
Midfield play was dominated by Rahni Giardina, Kendra Muro, Nicole Gonzalez, Amanda Morgan and Aubrey Young.
The Sting’s second half goal occurred when Locicero broke down the right side line and made a great lead pass to Erin Slattery. Slattery passed to Erin Evanger who blasted the ball toward the right net corner for the score.
