HAMLETS WANDERERS GIRLS   IN ROUND-ROBIN GOALFEST

On a crisp late October evening under the lights at the Bowden fields, Central -Turnpike, Sutton, the Fuller Hamlets Wanderers Girls (8-10 year olds) held their Fall Round-Robin and scored 21 goals in four hard-fought games. In the first game Mendon Rovers went out to an early lead on a goal by Kayla Almstrom from close range after some fine passing on the right between Rachel Perregaux and Emily Reynolds whose pinpoint cross made Almstrom's strike an easy one. At the ten-minute mark Almstrom scored again in similar circumstances. She picked up a through ball from Reynolds and shook off two tackles before slotting the ball in the corner of the net. The Hartford Tigers came back strongly in a series of counterattacks, and in one of these Stephanie Esker dribbled past two defenders and slipped the ball to Morgan Van der Baan who scored on a strong ten-yard drive. The same player scored again just before half time after Bea Bowden made a 20-yard run through the rnidfield before passing to Van der Baan who scored again with a powerful well-placed shot. The score was 2-2 at half-time and it stayed that way for 15 minutes until Kayla Almstrom and Emily Reynolds broke through the massed defence of the Tigers for Almstrom to complete her hat-trick. She added a fourth in the last minute, after good work by Anna Gaudet, and the Rovers finished worthy 4-2 winners.

In the second game between two evenly-balanced teams, the Fuller Mosquitoes and Kaittor's Kickers played to a 0-0 draw in the first half with the two defences dominating the game, led by Melissa Wojnowski, Eve Goulet, Lauren Drainville, and Maddie Neri. There were a few more chances for the strikers in the second half as the defenders tired and lost their shape at the back. The Mosquitoes scored first on an accurate shot from Francesca Niro after a strong run and a good pass from Kristen Bernheisel. The Kickers fought back and were unlucky not to score. Sierra St. Pierre narrowly missed with a powerful shot and two minutes later hit the upright with another strong shot. But as so often happens in soccer, after a narrow miss that could have brought the Kickers back into the game, the Mosquitoes went straight down the field and scored on a 40-yard run and strike from Kristen Bernheisel. The Kickers countered immediately when Gabby Carreiro picked up the ball 25 yards out and sped past several defenders before slotting the ball into the net from 10 yards out to make it 2-1. But it was too late for any more heroics as the whistle blew and the Mosquitoes registered a somewhat fortunate victory.

The second round pitted the two losing teams of the first round in a battle for third place, and in 9-goal thriller in which Kaittor's Kickers came back strongly in the second half, it was the Hartford Tigers who held on to win 5-4. The Tigers' hero was Paige Degnan who struck a first half hat-trick and finished with a four-goal haul. She opened the scoring in the third minute, poking the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble in which two other Tigers' players claimed that their pokes crossed the goal-line split-seconds before Degnan's strike. Degnan scored again two minutes later, stroking home the ball after Emma Zent's good run and cross from the right. The Kickers countered with a good run down their right, in which Abby Mackintosh carried the ball 15 yards and made a defence-splitting pass that found Gabby Carreiro charging in on the back post for an easy tap-in. Degnan scored again for the Tigers on an assist from Bea Bowden and then returned the favor with a pass that Bowden buried from 12 yards out to make the score 4-1. But just before the half Maddie Neri scored following a long clearance from Lauren Drainville to make it 4-2. The Kickers came out fighting in the second half and put heavy pressure on the Tigers' defence in which Ashley Roderick, Hannah Schmidt and Bea Bowden were outstanding. But the persistent Sierra St. Pierre who was unlucky not to score in the first game had better luck in the second game. She scored unassisted after a strong run from the left and then tied the game after combining well with Gabby Carreiro and Abby Mackintosh. With five minutes to go Degnan scored her fourth goal of the game on a feed from Morgan Van der Baan. The Kickers fought back as Nicole Rosetti hit the upright in the dying minutes, but the Tigers held on to clinch third place.

The final between the Fuller Mosquitoes and the Mendon Rovers was a surprisingl