10/7 - We won our 1st game against the Edison Tigers, 5 – 0. Overall, the Stingrays played an outstanding game, both offensively and defensively. Our defense shut down a strong Edison offense, and continued to keep the ball forward. Our defensive strength came from Billy Hill, Georgy Faltaous, Kevin McLaughlin, Luke Yakely and Arjun Shroff. With the ball forward in our possession, our offense took over. Our scoring again started with Gehrig Anderson driving one past the keeper within the first 10 minutes of play. Our second goal was a bullet from Giulio Vetriani high into the corner of the net. The first half ended 2 – 0. The second half opened up with Giulio following through with another shot past the keeper, followed by another goal from Gehrig, and then, from the corner of the 6 yard box, Dean Patel drove one into the corner of the net for his first goal of the season. The scoring could not have happened without the strong support of our offensive midfield; Dylan O’Connor, Cameron Consiglio, Owen Chavez, Kyle Burns, Ryan Burns and Lyle Zullo. Best of luck to the Edison Tigers for the rest of the season.

10/14 - The Stingrays lost a tough game against a strong and big (and undefeated), Summit Rovers team. However, we played extremely well against this formidable opponent. Both of our goalies, Cameron Consiglio and Luke Yakely, played outstanding and kept us in the game with their aggressive play. Even though Summit had numerous chances, our defense played strong. The first half ended 1 – 0 with superb effort from everyone. Even after Summit scored two more goals in the second half, I was very impressed that our kids never gave up and never stopped hustling. With 2 minutes remaining, we had a goal called back when our forward was ‘slightly’ offsides. This was a tough loss, but it demonstrated that we continue to improve and can play with the better teams. The ball will start to bounce our way. Excellent effort from everyone else: Gehrig, Giulio, Dylan, Kevin, Georgy, Dean, Billy, Ryan, Kyle, Lyle, Owen and Arjun. Congratulations to the Summit Rovers for a well played match.

10/20 - The FTSC Stingrays won their 2nd game against the Livingston Lumberjacks, 3-0. All of the boys played a tremendous game and hustled for 60 minutes. Our defensive unit was very impressive limiting the shots on goal to just a few. Kevin McLaughlin, Georgy Faltaous, Billy Hill, Luke Yakely, and Arjun Shroff kept the ball away from our net. But our goalies stepped up when needed, Cameron Consiglio and Kevin. Our scoring started when Owen Chavez stole the ball from Livingston, moved it forward to Dylan O'Connor who crossed it into the middle for Gehrig Anderson, who drove it home into the net. Our 2nd goal came from Giulio Vetriani who used his skill to open up a shooting lane and sent a shot into the upper left corner of the goal. Our final goal came in the 2nd half when Cameron Consiglio sent a through ball past the defenders for Gehrig, who dribbled directly to the goal and put one just out of reach for the keeper. Excellent play came from our midfield who continued to provide us scoring opportunities: Kyle Burns, Ryan Burns, Lyle Zullo, and Dean Patel. We also thank the Livingston Lumberjacks for hosting us and for an excellent game.

10/21 - The FTSC Stingrays ended the weekend with another win against the North Hunterdon 98 Madrid, 5-0. Again, our defense provided the foundation and kept the ball out of our goal. Excellent goalie play by Billy Hill and Luke Yakely. The defensive unit consisted of Kevin McLaughlin, Lyle Zullo, Kyle Burns, and Dean Patel. Most impressive in this game was our ball control and passing. Our defensive pushed the ball to the midfield who carried the ball forward through to the striker. The entire offensive unit played together and controlled the tempo of the game. Excellent play from Cam, Georgy, Dylan, Arjun, Ryan, Giulio, Gehrig, Owen, and Dean. Giulio had his 1st hat trick, which is 3 goals, with impressive play in front of the net. Gehrig added another goal to his totals with aggressive play. Our last scorer, who scored his 1st goal of the season with a nice move around a defender to the middle of the 18, who then rocketed a shot past the keeper, was Dylan O'Connor. Thanks to the Hunterdon team for a game well played and for traveling to our home field.

10/28 - The Stingrays lost a tough game today, 1 - 0, against a strong opponent, the Cranford Blasters. Even though we lost, a large percentage of the game was played in Cranford's half of the field. Cranford scored in the first half on a break away with a very nice shot from their striker. Our goalie, Billy Hill, charged the break away and just missed deflecting the shot away from the net. After the goal, our defense tightened up and kept the ball forward. A strong defense was played by Kyle, Dean, Owen, Lyle and Dylan. Throughout the game, our offense pounded the ball towards the net, but unfortunately, the ball never found the back of the net. Strong offensive play was demonstrated by Georgy, Giulio, Kevin, Cameron, Luke, Ryan, Gehrig and Arjun. Overall, our passing and positioning has greatly improved, as well as our aggressiveness. We may be a small team in size, but we have a tremendously large heart. Thanks to the Cranford Blasters for hosting us and for a game well played.

11/4 - The Stingrays continued to improve on 11/4, with a win over the South Brunswick Stingrays, 2 - 0. After a slow start in the 1st quarter, the FTSC Stingrays began to build momentum. Once we settled down, the team really started to click. Heads started to look up, passes began to evolve and the team started to move as a unit. The highlight of the game came from Owen Chavez, who scored his 1st goal of the season in the 2nd quarter, and then his 2nd goal of the season in the 4th quarter. Both goals were a direct result of 1) being aggressive and 2) being in the right position at the right time. Nice job Mr. Chavez... However, these goals were not without the impressive support of our offensive unit. The middle of our field was controlled by Cameron, Gehrig and Dylan, while the supporting midfielders and strikers kept the field spread out and options open. Hustle and aggressiveness were characteristic of the remaining offensive unit, Lyle, Giulio, Kyle, Ryan and Dean. Just as impressive as our offense, our defense once again, shut down a strong offensive team. Our goalies, (Dylan and Cameron), stepped up when needed, but our defense played the strongest I have seen them play yet. They moved forward with the offense and hunkered down when it was necessary. Strong, aggressive play was demonstrated by the entire unit, Kevin, Georgy, Luke, Arjun and Billy. Overall, we are getting better and better, but, we still have plenty to improve upon. Thanks to the South Brunswick Stingrays for traveling to our home field and a game well played.

11/11 - The Stingrays played an outstanding game today, resulting in a win over the Lawrence Devils, 5 - 0. Our defense continued its strong showing, who once again, posted another shutout, our 5th of the season. Our goalies, Luke and Kevin, played a solid game in front of the net, and orchestrated a focused defense. The defensive unit proved to be a formidable wall in front of the net and kept the strong Lawrence offense from scoring. Excellent job Lyle, Kyle, Kevin, Billy, Luke and Arjun. This defense continued to keep the ball forward creating opportunities for the offense. Our offense, in turn, played their part extremely well and put 5 balls into the back of the net. We had 2 players score their first goals of their young travel careers. Georgy Faltaous scored the first goal of his travel career by opening up a shooting lane within the 18 and placing a strong shot into the corner of the net. Lyle Zullo also scored his first goal through aggressive play in front of the net, and connecting on a volley into the upper corner of the net. Excellent ball control proved to be the reason for our other goals. Dylan scored 2 goals while Giulio added another goal to his total of 8 goals for the first half of the season so far. However, NONE of these goals would have been scored if it was not for the remaining midfield who continually provided opportunities. Outstanding contributors to the offensive effort also came from Cameron, who controlled the middle of the field, and Owen and Ryan who provided support to the outside flanks. Overall, it was an awesome game to watch, and exciting to see the kids really having fun. Thanks to the Lawrence Devils for traveling to our home field and a game well played.

11/18 - The Stingrays ended the 1st half of their first season with a win over a strong Westfield Juventus team. It was quite a day for soccer; cold, drizzle, snow and mud, just what every parent signed up for. With all of the elements against both teams, both teams came out to play and played well. Our defensive unit again played an outstanding game, and held a talented Westfield team from scoring. Superb goal tending from Billy and Cameron formed the foundation of the defense. The defenders in front of the net played outstanding and continued to keep the ball forward. Nice job Dylan, Owen, Dean, Arjun, Luke, Lyle, Kevin and Gehrig. This was our first game that several players played both offense and defense in the same game, a sign that our young players are truly beginning to understand positioning. As our defense kept the ball forward, our midfield and striker kept finding opportunities. In the 1st half, Georgy fired a shot from just inside the 18, and the ball found itself passed the keeper in the back of the net. The half ended 1 - 0. The second half started with everyone shivering from the cold. As it continued, Luke continued his hustle forward and eventually found an opening with 10 minutes left and rifled a shot into the corner of the net. Outstanding hustle contributed to this opportunity and several other shots on goal. The other offensive players who played outstanding included Kyle, Ryan, Giulio, Cameron, Lyle, Kevin, Billy, Dylan and Gehrig. Outstanding game Stingrays. Thank you to the Westfield team for a game well played and for hosting our team today.