Blue Cyclones win big

Kieran Headington and Connor Kincaid scored two goals each to lead the Blue Cyclones to a 5-1 win over the Red Team and the league championship in a AYSO Region 97 boys’ under-12 game.

The Blue Cyclones, coached by Bryan Duncan, dominated. Kincaid scored the first Cyclone goal in the opening minutes. Headington produced several shots on goal, one of which Jack McKasson followed up to give the Cyclones a 2-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Cole Schattinger nearly scored. In the third quarter, Kincaid scored again on a penalty kick, putting the Cyclones up 3-0. Kenny Contreras barely missed on two additional penalty kicks. Jack McClintock, solid in the goal for the Cyclones throughout, made several key saves in the second and third quarters, assisted on defense by Nelson Rodriguez, who kicked the ball to safety with the Red Team bearing down on him. Ian Eaton and Bryce Thurman made some big defensive kicks. The Red Team got one through the Cyclone defense at the end of the third quarter. The fourth quarter belonged to the Cyclones, led on offense by Headington, who took control of the ball and dribbled through the Red Team and took at least four shots on goal, putting two of them in a row into the net.

Sam Miller and Riley Gleason provided defensive kills and kept sending the the ball back to the Red Team end of the field. Also playing tough for the Cyclones and key to winning the championship were Max Duncan, Alex Kerr, Brandon Lezama, and Jonathan Morales.

The Red Team won an earlier match against the Blue Crew before meeting up with the Cyclones.

The Red Team was led by the inspired play of Sohrob Goodarzy in the midfield. Goodarzy’s steady control in the midfield along with the hustle of Brian Shaw slowly created many chances for Cooper Peters, Griffin Burke and Alex Michaelson. Corbin Joyce, Michael Nieto and Maxwell Spruill also contributed. Sargis Srapyan played well in goal, while Liam Tough, Sean Arnold and Spencer Swanson were strong on defense.

Next week the Red Team will continue its season by entering as the No. 2 seed team in the Mayor’s Cup.

AYSO Region 57

Boys’ Under-14

Average Joes win championship thriller: Jeff Johnston led the Average Joes to an exciting victory decided by a shootout in the boys’ under-14 championship game against Green Grass.

Johnston scored during regulation, which ended in a 1-1 tie. Because of darkness no overtime period was played. Johnston came up big in the shootout, making a penalty kick and allowing just one goal as the goalkeeper.

Brandon Wolfe and Brian Wagner made their respective penalty kicks for the Average Joes. After the win, the Average Joes immediately celebrated on the darkened pitch of Lincoln Field.

The match lived up to the hype, as the league-leading Green Grass were defeated by the Cinderella-story team, the Average Joes. It was the fourth meeting between the teams, with the Green Grass having beaten the Joes in two. There was one tie.

The Average Joes scored first in this one, with team MVP Johnston dribbling the length of the field and breaking free for the Joes. The Green Grass came right back and scored one minute later on a goal by Alex Wedland, off of a perfectly placed assist by Ryan Brown.

From there on both teams defenses held firm. The Average Joes were anchored by Wolfe in goal, fullbacks Erick Francis, Dan Labruna, Matt Phillips, Michael Jolas, and remarkable stopper play by Wagner.

The Green Grass held firm with Spencer Cornman in goal and Max Helman, Giovanni Gentosi and Court Clark providing defensive leadership and aggressive play.

Both teams’ midfielders played well throughout. The Average Joes’ Gunnar Logan, Kayvon Azhir, Andre Fawaz, Aryan Koochy and Brody Richter all had superb games. Brady Shockey and Jonathon Skolnick stood out at midfield for the Green Grass.

Both teams had numerous goal chances from their attackers, with Austin Smith, Colin Brandenberger and Alex Muruello pounding away for the visiting Joes. James Pfplughaupt and Blake Davidson of Green Grass had several golden goal opportunities that just missed.

AYSO Region 97

Boys Under 10

Golden Knights 6, Ghostbusters 3: The Golden Knights started in the first quarter with two goals and followed that up with a penalty kick making it 3-0 at the end of the first period. The Ghostbusters never let down and in the second period Joe Fuller scored. Conner Houlihan made a beautiful header shot into the goal making it 3-1. After halftime the Ghostbusters, coached by Scott Osumi, rallied and looked like they were on a comeback when Houlihan hit another goal in, but was immediately answered by the Golden Knights making it 4-2. At the end of the third quarter, the Ghostbusters had one of their best players ejected for use of hands in front of the goal. That changed the momentum of the game and in the fourth quarter the Golden Knights scored two more. The Ghostbusters’ Jack Riley scored on a penalty kick.

The Golden Knights took third place and he Ghostbusters were fourth out of 18 teams in the league.

Girls Under 8

Orange Crush: The Orange Crush completed a terrific season with a 2-1 victory over the Pink Panthers to become champions in the first U-8 tournament held at Newport Heights.

Jayd Sprague, the Orange Crush leading scorer, helped her team secure four wins through the tournament to earn first-place medals.

Sprague netted four goals on the last day. Midfielder Peyton Kassouf provided assists and tenancious play. Meanwhile, the goalkeeping quartet of Lauren Braun, Sophia Thomas, Alex Terry and Kaia Pronger — who broke a knuckle with a shot save on the first weekend of the tournament — kept opposing offenses frustrated. The defensive play of Amanda Wertheimer and Kelsey Cox was equally impressive, while McKenna Kummerfeldt kept opposing defenses confused with her solid left foot play on the wing.

Boys Under 8

Green Bullets: Coach DeAlmeida and Coach Bashore had the Green Bullets ready for two great playoff victories to capture the championship.

In the semifinals, Indiana Pullis made a nice play to set up Luke Bashore’s great centering pass to Zach Forbath. Forbath hasn’t wasted any opportunities all year and he came through again with the game’s first goal. It remained a tense 1-0 game with the Broncos until Jackson Bryant created a turnover at midfield and sent a nice pass to set up Chandler Airth. Airth delivered with a smooth diagonal shot to seal the game and send the Green Bullets to the final with a 2-0 victory. In both games, the Green Bullets relied on the incredible midfield defense of Cole McCunniff and Ezer DeAlmeida, who both constantly cut off any scoring opportunities before they could develop. Tommy Kennedy provided great defense at fullback, often left on his own at the defensive end, but always turned away threats.

In the championship game, Forbath again delivered the first goal, impressively weaving through multiple defenders on the play. Ryan Steinke helped provide constant pressure to help make Forbath’s goal hold up, while also anchoring the Green Bullets’ shutout goaltending crew along with Bashore and Bryant. In the second half, Airth flashed his speed and skill, dribbling more than half the field before nailing the clinching goal in the 2-0 win.

Slammers go undefeated in Coast Soccer League: The Newport Beach-based Slammers girls’ U-12 Gold team captured its second consecutive Coast Soccer League title.

The Slammers finished league play with a 9-0-5 record. In the process, the team scored 25 goals, while allowing only four.

The eight-team Gold Division is considered one of the most competitive for this age group in the country.

Local girls from the Newport-Mesa area include Elizabeth Barbaresi, Caroline Bethel, Samantha Falasco, Olivia Khoury, Caitlin Leahy, Sarah Leahy, Carly Malatskey, Taylor McMorrow, Tara Morris and Danielle Thomas.

The team is coached by Trevor Ickes and managed by Costa Mesa resident John Leahy.

The team begins League Cup compeitition Dec. 5 before moving on to National Cup play in February.