Game Highlights

Game Highlights Fall 2011

Week One Highlights:

The entire Tornadoes team played great in our season opener against the Tewksbury Jaguars. As an outside midfielder, Skylar dominated the entire length of the soccer field. She used her speed and first touch skills to feed our offense and to stop any opponent drives. Skylar also played an excellent striker position showcasing her speed. As the back center midfield, Krysten disrupted our opponents offense by constantly being first to the soccer ball with her aggressive style of play. She also modified her position and played a more offensive midfielder based on the positioning our opponents strikers. As striker, Krysten registered a very nice assist and a powerful shot on goal. Congratulations to the entire team for our first win of the season.

Week Two Highlights:

Our second game of the season was against the North Hunterdon Boca Juniors. Our opponents did a good job switching the field in an effort to create offensive drives. We played well as a team and the girls showed off their excellent conditioning, as we played on a very muggy afternoon.

Kayla played a good portion of her time as an inside midfielder (forward and back). Kayla must have had a GPS tracker to the soccer ball. She consistently controlled the middle of the field, playing aggressive and more importantly…smart.

Another player that showed the same skills and was always in position, Gabi Stankosh. Gabi played a flawless defensive position – great ball control coupled with her ability to “track and stop” any initial opponent drive. As a striker Gabi showed great ball control and challenged the defense deep in the penalty box.

Congratulations to the entire team for a well played game.

Week Three Highlights

Our first home game of the season found us up against a very well coached and smart team - the Westfield Earthquakes.

Kaitlyn played an excellent outside midfield position covering all three sections of the field. She hustled to make sure she got back on defense disrupting our opponents offensive drives. On the offensive side of the game, Kaitlyn used her signature "Speed Burst" to get around the defense for some great cross passes and shots on goal. I could have sworn that I heard a sonic boom as she turned on the speed.

Allison helped start the "spark" we needed in the second half, as she played both a striker and forward midfielder. Allison constantly drew at least two defenders anytime she came down the field with the ball. Her 1 v 1 moves and fast style of play provided the offensive drives that found us in the opponents side of the field most of the second half.

Week Four Highlights:

The Metuchen Storm played tough for the entire 70 minutes of the game. At times it seemed that their Keeper had 4 arms. She played a great game, stopping all but one of our shots on goal.

Carissa provided great support to the offense as she played in the Outside Halfback position. She kept the pressure on the Storm players by never stopping the attack while the ball was within her reach. Carissa also kept moving to open space after making great passes to her teammates.

Our defense continues to dominate and win the "game within the game" by playing as a complete unit. The communication is increasing amongst the defense with each passing game. Against the Storm, Julianna, showed off her ability to track to the ball and play aggressive to the first touch. She also has shown great improvement in her ability to clear the ball out of the defensive zone to the middle of the field.

Congratulations to our entire team for a well played game.

Week Five Game Highlights:

As we all sat eating grapes and oranges (not sure who brought them, but they were good!) halfway through our fifth game against “The Crush”, the #4 soccer ball did not see the inside of a goal net on either end of the field. The Cranford Crush had a focused defense and “Keeper”, stopping our offensive drives and knocking down and absorbing all of our shots on goal.

Throughout the game, Jenna showed her “game intelligence” by consistently modifying her position based on the other teams game play. She created a lot of open space for our offense by drawing in the defense and making accurate passes to create offensive opportunities. Jenna also played a very physical game winning the first touch to the ball.

There was a lot of communication on the field from our players, in particular Lauren’s game communication helped set-up our drives as both a Midfielder and a Striker. Lauren did a very good job leading the formations during our corner kicks, which is a very important part of the game. Our go ahead goal was a shot by Lauren that went off of a Crush defender. The highlighted skill was the power and direction of her shot on goal. Lauren has a great power shot and does an excellent job “Finishing”.
A special thanks goes out to our Keepers – Brooke and Allie for staying focused and being part of a very good defensive unit.

Congratulations to our entire team for a well played game.

Week Six Game Highlights:

Half of our Fall 2011 season is behind us and our team continues to improve and play as a complete team. Changing positions when asked, trying new formations, all while winning "the game within the game". On Sunday we played the Tewksbury Jaguars that showed a lot of aggressiveness and focus on their offensive drives. Our entire defensive unit continues to play like champions – communicating, modifying positions, and stopping all of the offensive drives. Kristina is a big part of that defensive unit. No matter how much pressure the offense shows her, Kristina utilizes her soccer skills and slows the opponent down and changes the direction of the play with her strong kicks. Kristina has also started to play outside midfielder and striker, expanding her soccer skills. On the offensive side of the game, Daniella created some great scoring opportunities with solid passes and smart game play. She used her body to position herself and keep the defense on their toes. Daniella had excellent concentration, taking a number of shots on goal.

Congratulations to the entire team for another win and more importantly for continuing to focus on improving as individuals and as a team.

Week 7 Highlights - Make up game:

Due to a rare October snow storm, we had our first makeup game against the North Hunterdon Boca Jrs. Like the first time we were up against Boca, their keeper put on a show, stopping a ton of shots on goal.
Sydney showed off her defensive skills throughout the game, stopping drives and confusing the opponent’s offense. She also provided teamwork and great offensive push as a midfielder and striker, taking some great shots on goal. Up and down the field she played a great game.
On the other side of the field, Olivia used her speed and aggressiveness on every one of her shifts, never stopping, always playing through the ball. Olivia played an excellent “offensive defensive” position as a midfielder. Confusing as it sounds, she did an outstanding job marking the Boca players as they tried to start-up some offense. On a number of occasions her “offensive defense” stopped them in their tracks.
Special recognition goes to Allison Kline for her ESPN Highlighted “Save of the Week” – (Comcast Channel 35) on a penalty kick late in the game that locked in our 7th shut-out of the season. Congratulations to the entire team for a well played game and for asking to play positions that they have never played before…

Week 8 Highlights:

As soon as the whistle blew and one of the Westfield Earthquake players touched the ball, we came out playing “Tornadoes Soccer”. It usually takes our team 10 minutes to get going, but not today...
As a Striker, Gabby Sobon skated through the midfielders and defenders creating great scoring opportunities. Alright… she did not skate through, she ran through... I just needed to throw a little hockey into the highlights. Gabby also played an excellent right fullback, stopping drives and sending the ball to our offense with her powerful kicks. Throughout the game, Gabby always drew more than one Westfield player to her, creating openings for our team.
As an offensive midfielder, Brooke played a very smart positional game, feeding the strikers and switching the field when the opportunities arose. Brooke also did a very good job communicating with Krysten, who played defensive midfielder, assuring the middle of the field was played effectively. Brooke has a powerful kick and showcased it throughout the day.
Over the last 2 games, 8 players tried new positions, or positions that they do not normally play. Congratulations to the entire team for a well played game.