Wallkill Valley Soccer report
Devils The Wallkill Valley Devils (U-14 Boys) moved from Flight 6, where they went undefeated in the fall, to Flight 3 for the spring season. This was a big jump but from the first game, the team showed they could compete at this level. The boys finished the season on Sunday, June 17 with a 2-1 win over the Skylands Stingers.
The Devils had been going back and forth with the Long Valley Revolution for the top spot in the flight and it all came down to the last game. With this win, the season record was 7-1-2 (W-T-L), and the Devils were able to earn enough points to win the U-14 Boys Flight 3.
Ten members of the team will be going to high school this fall and their teammates wish them the very best.
Gladiators The Wallkill Valley Gladiators (U-11 Boys) closed out their Morris County Youth Soccer 2011/2012 season in perfect fashion on Sunday with a victory over the Long Valley Vikings.
The Gladiators took the field to start the game without several of their regulars, against a Long Valley team sitting in second place. Long Valley was looking to even the season series against the Gladiators after losing the first match 5-3 back in May. With the league championship already in hand, the Gladiators main motivation for this match was to maintain a perfect season. It took some time for the teams to settle down, but soon the Wallkill Valley pressure mounted and the majority of the action was in the Long Valley end of the pitch. With constant pressure, the Gladiators were struggling to pull the trigger on shots and when they did, it was either wide or directly at the Long Valley keeper. Long Valley had a few breakaway opportunities of their own and in the 25th minute of the match, Long Valley finally scored past the outstretched Wallkill Valley keeper, who managed to get a hand on the blistering shot, but was unable to deflect it outside the post. This was the first time in the entire 2011/2012 seasons that the Gladiators had ever trailed in a match. It didn't take long however for the Wallkill team to strike back. In the 33rd minute, Dominik Wygonowski looped a shot over the Long Valley keeper who had strayed well out of his net to even the match. Two minutes later, Zach Conklin dribbled through the Long Valley defensive back line, put a move on the keeper and buried a shot to put Wallkill Valley up 2-1 just as the halftime whistle blew.
The second half was dominated by the Wallkill Valley team as the teams tired and the passing lanes opened up. The pressure was relentless and the opportunities to score came fast and often. The Gladiators had several near misses and some shots the ricocheted off the post. Long Valley never mounted much maintained pressure in the second half and struggled to get the ball out of their own defensive third of the pitch. Finally, Dominik Wygonowski put away his second goal of the game in the 60th minute to seal the victory and the second consecutive perfect season for the Gladiators.
Team members this season: Graham Arthur, Tanner Alves, Ethan Berner, Tyler Bilheimer, Cristian Chavira, Zach Conklin, Michael DaSilva, Grady Egan, Douglas Galate, Hunter Horn, Milan Kuryala, Steven Line, Kyle McQuillan, Sebastian Mianowski, Andrew Rodriguez, Hank Roe, and Dominik Wygownowski.
Raiders The Wallkill Valley Raiders played their last game of the spring season on Sunday, June 17, receiving the Warren United Badgers in the Wheatsworth fields. The Raiders needed to win to ensure a first place tie, depending of the results from the other games for the flight. The Raiders started the game with Nicolai Rodriguez, Jack Lally, Hunter Nolan, Eduardo Piedrasanta, Daniel Galate, Anthony Da Silva, Lukas Wiloski and Justin Dubinski playing as the lone forward. Nicholas Nolan, Mathew Cespedes, Ryan Cunniffe and Mako Icsman were substitutes throughout the game, providing a breath of fresh air to the team. Skyler Hanish watched his teammates from the sideline as he was not able to play the game due to sickness.
For the first few minutes the game was mostly played on the Badgers side of the field. Lukas, Anthony and Daniel kept dribbling and shooting, with some of the shots that going out of bounds, and others being controlled by the goalie. In one of those earlier plays, the Raiders players were able to get inside the 18 yard area and pass the ball to Justin who controlled the ball, then cut to his right and hit a shot to score the first goal of the game, and his first goal of the season. The goal motivated the Raiders who kept the pressure on offense. The second goal for the Raiders was the result of a penalty kick, after a foul on Hunter was called inside the Badgers 18 yard area. It was Hunter who took the penalty kick by shooting to the left side of the goalie. After this, the game was more even with both teams generating scoring options.
The first half finished with the score 2-1.
The Raiders third goal of the day was scored by Daniel, after a pass that he controlled and then took closer to the opponents goal to shot into the goal.
This was the Raiders second season, the final record for the team is 5(W)-4(T)-1(L).
Strikers The Wallkill Valley Strikers U16 boys soccer team hosted the Summit Sliders for the final game of the season. The two embattled teams locked horns at noon in the game which would decide the flight winner. Summit drew first blood with a late first half goal on a surprising breakaway. However, the Strikers fought back and scored with a cross from Connor smith to Tristan Dutkowski who easily beat the keeper on the right side. The battle raged as the sun rose higher into the sky and the temps soared.
With less than 10 minutes left Summit scored the game winning goal. The Strikers were not without their last minute opportunities, but they just couldn't get it in. The Strikers finish the season in second place with a 6-4 record. Three of those wins were shut-outs. All four losses were each by one point only.