Fall 2005 Week 1 (9-11)

Fuller Hamlets Host Big Kickoff of MAPLE in Sutton

On a bright, sunny, early fall Sunday six teams of the Fuller Hamlets Soccer Club opened their Massachusetts Premier League (MAPLE) season at Bowden Fields, Central Turnpike, Sutton. The Hamlets Under 11 Boys, who had a winning fall season in 2004 as ten-year olds, are expected to finish the 2005-2006 season among the state's Top Four, and they lived up to that ranking in their game against Bayside United of Rhode Island. They moved the ball around smoothly in an impressive display of crisp triangle passing and accurate shooting. Ryan Elster opened the scoring with a powerful low drive from 12 yards and later converted two crossfield passes from close range to complete his hat-trick. Midfielder Nick White scored in a goalmouth scramble and Nikko Panteleakis drove in the third goal, finishing off a fine move begun by John Whitter and carried forward by Corey Augustus. Just before half time Joe Lacasse sealed the game with two splendid strikes: the first a 30-yard dribble capped by a rising 20-yard drive into the top corner of the net. The second was from a direct free kick: another rasping 25-yard drive just under the crossbar.

In the second half the Hamlets mounted wave after wave of attacks and scored six more goals. Tyler Martin nodded in a pinpoint cross from Ryan Elster, and soon after scored again on a penalty kick after he was brought down in the penalty area. The scoring, was completed by Joshua Jess who converted two goals late in the game from accurate passes by Riley Steele and Ryan Stacy. Goafkeeper Jack Blatchford preserved his shutout with two good saves and a splendid full-body save, coming off his line and smothering a breakaway. The defence led by Andy Rothermich and Joe Lacasse was impregnable in the 11-0 win.

On the Lower Field the Hamlets 10-year old girls played the F.C.Greater Boston A team in a dramatic game. The young Hamlets had lost all three games in the Farmington (Connecticut) Shootout on the Labor Day Weekend and were not given much chance against the older and bigger F.C. Boston, but, after a shaky start, they gained confidence and got to halftime with the score 0-0. In the second half the Hamlets did manage to push several counterattacks into the Boston penalty area but the Boston girls maintained their territorial advantage and finally scored on a long breakaway with 5 minutes remaining. Amazingly the Hamlets girls rallied and put the Boston goalkeeper under pressure for three minutes and equalized with their first good shot of the game with one minute to go. The goalscoring hero was Megan Talon. Boston came straight back and there was much nail-biting and plenty of anxious moments before wild cheers greeted the final whistle. This was the girls' first League game in the Hamlets royal blue and the wild celebration of a famous tie was just as important to the girls and their parents as a World Cup victory.

In the second set of games both Hamlets girts teams suffered from the first-game blues. The Hamlets Under 11A girls were expected to be a match for Berkshire United, but they started slowly, conceded an early goal, and were never able to gain the cohesion to break down the well-organized and hard-tackling team from Western Massachusetts. The 1 -0 loss was a fair result on a day the Hamlets Girls will want to forget.

On the Upper Field the Hamlets Under 12G1rls, the Massachusetts #3 team in 2004-2005, were pitted against Nashoba United, a team promoted from the Second Division and ranked ninth in the state. This was a game of two very different halves. In the first half the speedy Nahoba side pressed the Hamlets back with speed, hard-tackling, and some fearless heading. They created three half-chances in the first 20 minutes while the Hamlets struggled to find the rhythm that served them so well in the previous season. In the second half it was the Hamlets who applied the ever stronger pressure, and they rarely allowed the northern Worcester County team out of their half. The Nashoba 'keeper was forced to make six good saves and the Nashoba defence hung on desperately as the Hamlets mounted endless attacks in the last 15 minutes. With the final score a disappointing O-o tie, the Hamlets were left to rue their first half lethargy and their missed scoring opportunities in the second half. Audrey Schmidt and Murphy Ronan were the Hamlets stars in the first half with their sterling defence and Megan Burke showed flashes of brilliance, good attacking speed, and tenacity on the ball as the best wide midfielder on view.

In the final game on the Lower Field the Hamlets Under 13 Girls B team took on the Stars of Massachusetts and, as in the previous game on the Lower Field, gave away an early cheap goal. But the team rallied immediately and pulled the goal back on a good shot from Jackie Bates after a pass from Nicole Pefletier. Nicote Stacey at stopper and Ann-Rae LeCfaire, the goalkeeper, were the stalwarts of the Hamlets defence in thel -1 tie, in a game that coach Don Le Claire felt was a game the Hamlets should have won.

The final game on the Upper Field was the most hard-fought and certainly the best of the day. In a First Division clash the Hamlets Under 14 Girts hosted the Western Massachusetts Junior Pioneer Girls in an end-to-end game that saw lots of action in both goalmouths. The Hamlets struck first with a brilliant goal. Heather Djiembowski's powerfully struck low corner was met at the near post by the chest of Catherine Malcolm who whipped the ball into the bottom corner of the net. This was the only goal of the first half. Soon after the re-start, and after several fine saves from goalkeeper Ronan, the Hamlets conceded a goal that began as a cross from the right and drifted into the top left corner of the net-an unintended shot almost impossible to save. The Pioneers pushed four into the attack and gambled forward as most Springfield teams do in search of a victory. This meant that the k Hamlets were reduced to occasional counterattacks as they pulled nine back into defence, On the third and last Hamlets counterattack with nine minutes to go a long clearance from Courtney Wood found Catherine Malcolm who split the defenders to send Kelsey Jarosz clear. She outpaced the chasing centerback over 30 yards and placed a rising shot into the bottom left corner to sea! the 2-1 victory against a very good team. Although clearly fatigued the Hamlets defence in which Courtney Wood and Heather Djiembowski were towers of strength, dug down, gave away no silly fouls on the edge of the box, and played with a tenacity that bodes well for a successful season.