Season Wrapup

When the Scotch Plains Lightning U-13 Girls’ Soccer team started their season last Labor Day weekend in the late summer swelter they used a dominant defense to sweep through the field and win four straight games. When they finished the season in warm late spring weather they were an offensive juggernaut and were unbeaten in the final four. In between there were many great victories, only one decisive defeat, some frustrating games but the overall theme was a team that improved and never conceded anything no matter what the score.

Coach Luis Rodriguez perhaps best typified the season when he said ‘I wish it wasn’t ending. We are really finding our way”.
The biggest challenge Rodriguez had in moving the team from flight five last fall to the much tougher flight four was
the change in opposition.

“The teams were much better in the spring and it took us time to realize that”, said Rodriguez. The coach had to shuffle his lineup in midseason and that made all the difference. If the Lightning use this season as a springboard to huge success next year, perhaps they will look at a game they lost as the turning point. On a cold blustery Mother’s Day the Lightning faced their season long nemesis the Central Jersey Tidalwave. Things looked grim when the Tidalwave capitalized on Lightning defensive mistakes to grab a 4-0 lead midway through the first half. It was then that Rodriguez moved star defender Jovanni Costello to midfield. The change energized the Lightning who just missed coming all the way back an dlost 4-2 despite dominating the second half.

After that Costello moved to midfield and an offensive juggernaut emerged. First the Lightning completely dominated the Edison
United Express scoring five goals in the first half enroute to a 5-0 pounding. Despite only scoring one goal the following week against the tough Montclair Lightning it was enough for a satisfying 1-1 tie and set the stage for a remarkable comeback at Flemington which probably would have fallen short earlier in the year. but the newly confident Lightning came back from 3-0 and 5-2 deficits to forge a remarkable 5-5 tie one of only two blemishes on first place Flemington’s record this spring. The season ended with a complete annihilation of Millburn by a 5-2 score that showed off many of the teams’ new offensive weapons.

The spring had begun miserably with a 5-0 loss on March 23 at Central Jersey in a game that really had no business being played. The weather was horrible a cold blustery rain with wind chills in the 20’s caused many of the parents to watch from their cars. The Lightning recovered to beat their favorite patsies Edison in a tough 3-2 struggle. They then lost two agonizing games-a 2-1 home loss to eventual flight champion Flemington and a 2-1 loss at Montclair on a goal in the final minute after they had tied the game on a header by Kristen Thompson with three minutes left. A 1-0 home win over Millburn completed the first half but the Lightning’s continued offensive problems foced Rodriguez to shuffle players for more offense.

The fall portion of the schedule lent doubt to the theory about whther more offense was needed. The Lightning,starting with their four shutout performance at the Piscataway tourney completely shut teams down on their was to an over 10-2 mark which put them second in flight five and guaranteed elevation to the much tougher flight 4. two narrow losses to their nemeisis Central jersey were more than offset by sweeps of Edison,Montogomery and South Plainfierld thr latter by a pair of 3-0 whitewashes.

The Lightning saw a very early end to their season on November 10. A scheduled November 17 game was postponed because of the

Millburn (5-1)

It started with a trickle and ended with a deluge. No we’re not talking about the Spring weather but the Scotch Plains Lightning’s last soccer game of the U13 Girls’ season at Millburn on Father’s Day. The trickle was the way the ball rolled into the net early in the second half to break a scoreless tie. The deluge described the relentless way the Lightning attacked the Millburn goal and only some great saves and near misses kept the potent Lightning attack to five goals. After scoring just eight goals in their first six games of the Spring, the Lightning exploded for 16 in their last four including five in each of the last two games.

For the second straight game the Lightning did almost all their damage in the second half. Playing the opening half on the uphill side of the field, Coach Luis Rodriguez cleverly used his best goalie Rachel Parker and she made several acrobatic saves to keep the game scoreless. After the trickle goal which was credited to Katie Cornacchia, the Lightning exploded with each goal seemingly more impressive than the last.

First Parket took a great thru pass from Alyssa Strainiero and made no mistakes hitting in a hard low shot. It was then Joanna Naugle’s turn and she let loose a left footed blast that would still be rolling except for the goal netting. It was the second straight game that Naugle had scored.

Yes, no question about, Alyssa has played an excellent game along with
Britanny. Special mention to Jaclyn, that had a few saves in the first half,
she was extraordinary.
I kind of regret the fact that the season is almost over, I just love to
keep working with this group of girls.
Best regards,

Edison Express (5-0)

There is something about seeing an opponent with Edison on their uniform that seems
to bring out the best in Scotch Plains U13 Girls Soccer team,the Lightning. For the sixth time in as many games dating back to Labor Day weekend the Lightning beat an Edison team this time the Edison United Express by a lopsided 5-0 score Sunday May 18 at Wardlaw Hartridge School in Edison.. The win raises the Lightning record to 3-4 this spring and 13-6 overall. Nearly half of those wins were against the two Edison teams,the flight five
Edison United Independence three times least fall and this is the third against the United Express who were flight three last fall. The aggregate in the six games is an impressive 21-3.

The momentum that the team had built during a spirited second half comeback that fell just short the week before seemed to carry over as the Lightning poured in five goals
in the first half.

Alyssa Straniero, Joanna Naugle, Rachel Parker, Jac\vonni Costello and Angelica Glover all scored and Jaclyn Lazarus,Rachel Kreyer and Parker combined for the shutout.

East Brunswick (2-4)

Despite a fourth straight loss to their nemesis,the Central Jersey Tidalwave, the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls Soccer Team took away a good feeling from a 4-2 loss on a chilly misty Mother’s Day at Wardlaw Hartridge School in Edison. Trailing 4-0 midway through the first half the Lightning refused to quit and mounted a furious rally that came painfully close to making it a one goal game.

Although the weather was unseasonably cold and windy it still was a far cry from the March 30 opener played at East Brunswick that was played in a cold biting rain and resulted in a 5-0 loss. This one appeared just as bad as the Tidalwave connected on two long high sahos and a perfectly placed low one for a 3-0 lead. It got worse as a long cross was kicked in a by a Lightning player.

“We told the girls to not allow any long kicks, That is CNJ Tidalwave strength. We let them do it and we went down 4-0”, said Coach Luis Rodriguez. Katie Cornacchia got one back just before halftime when she converted a pass from Alyssa Straiero for her team leading third goal.

At halftime Rodriguez made some daring moves including moving his best defender Javonni Costello to offense and switching his daughter, the solid Heather rodriguez to defense. The changes enlivened the Lightning offense and Costello’s speed provided numerous scoring opportunites finally resulting a beautiful goal to cut the lead to 4-2 midway throught the second half.

“At half time basically we told the girls do not give up. Let's play real soccer, passing, ball control, effort and more effort. Put the score away, let's assume starts again.”, said Rodriguez.
“ The girls came ready and responded good. I thing we out played them in the second half. “

Millburn (1-0)

With his team mired in a two game losing streak Scotch Plains U13 Girls Coach Luis Rodriguez decided it was time to shake things up for their game against Millburn Sunday at Wardlaw Hartridge School in Edison. The revamped lineup, designed to provide more offense, paid immediate dividends with a goal in the first five minutes and it proved enough as the Lightning survived some scary moments in the second half to post a 1-0 victory and finish the first half of the schedule at 2-3.

The major change was moving Alyssa Straniero from fullback to halfback in the effort to take more advantage of her excellent passing skills and benefit from Brittany Biondi’s size and mobility on defense. It was especially effective in the first half when Strainero sent a perfect through ball to Rachel Parker who sent a rocket into the upper right corner. Biondi was stopping everything in her path as right fullback and Jaclyn Lazarus and later Parker made the lead stand up in the first half.

“We discovered the great abilities of Britanny as a fullback, and re-encountered the desire for the ball from Alyssa. It marked the difference, “ said Rodriguez. The first half was the Lightning’s best this spring as some excellent passing out of midfield led to numerous other scoring opportunities the best when Heather Rodriguez took another fine Straniero pass and just kicked the ball wide. Parker also had another opportunity blocked by a Millburn fullback just as it was headed into the goal.

“I told the girls to work more with passing, gain confidence in ball control by doing it instead of the kicking away type of soccer, we all saw that at the first half and a little bit less at the second half.”, added Rodriguez.

The second half was less decisive as Rodriguez juggled the lineup moving Straniero back to defense. Both teams had scoring chances in the second half with the Lightning’s best chances from Cathy Harley and Katie Cornacchia.

The midfield of Straniero, Angelica Glover, Kristen Thompson, Rodriguez,Nina Brownstone,Lazarus and Harley showed great cohesion while Rachel Kreyer displayed her usual hustle, Joanna Naugle dazzled with her dribbling and shooting skills and Cornacchia was creative with her dribbling and passing.

The defense consisted mainly of Biondi, Javonni Costello and Maria Rivero. Costello had her usual outstanding game with some daring runs up the field from her fullback position but always showed great recovery speed. Rodriguez made a surprising move late in the second half when he gave Cheryl Monteiro her first goalkeeping experience of the spring. Monteiro fighting a tough sun batted away Millburn’s last chance shot in the waning seconds.

“It was a nail biter in the second half but we survived “, said Rodriguez. “It was a good well deserved win and much needed”.

The Lightning next face a very tough opponent when they host the Central Jersey Tidalwave at 1:30 at Wardlaw.. Last fall’s flight five winner the Tidalwave own three straight victories over the Lightning including a 5-0 blowout in the season opener that was played in awful conditions.

Montclair (1-2)

While April 13 greeted the Lightning players and parents with long awaited warm weather which miraculously dried up a waterlogged field, the result was an unlucky 2-1 loss to the tough Greater Flemington Freedom,Sunday at Park Middle School Scotch Plains.

Coach Luis Rodriguez was philosophical in defeat noting the tougher competition.
“This was our first contact with flight three team(The Freedom played in that group last fall). They were more alert and quick to the ball, more aggressive, more physical but in my opinion we kept them in track for a good 10-15 first minutes of the second half,” said Rodriguez

The Freedom used strong counterattacks to score one breakaway goal in each half the latter breaking a 1-1 tie. The Lightning had tied the game near the end of the first half on a spectacular header by Kristen Thompson who outjumped two players to direct Brittany Biondi’s cross past a surprised goalkeeper.

“That was a good display of effort and persistence, she deserved that goal, and fought hard for it”, said Rodriguez.

The Lightning,1-2 thusfar this Spring, are experiencing the growing pains of moving up from flight five to flight four a result of their second place finish. While the top two teams in each flight move up the bottom two move down and the middle two stay in place meaning the schedule is far tougher.

“We have to find ourselves in the rhythm of fourth flight, faster, stronger, basically: do the same but quicker.”, said Rodriguez.

“I am not disappointed with our game, but I know we could better. Perhaps with regular practices and knowing our own mistakes we'll get better.”

The Lightning offense clearly missed Heather Rodriguez,the coaches’ daughter who had scored their first goal a week ago. Rachel Parker and Jaclyn Lazarus were busier than usual in goal and made several fine plays to thwart further scoring. The defense of Alyssa Strainero, Javonni Costello and Maria Rivero were busier than usual. Costello made several dazzling runs far up the field from near her own goal.

Angelica Glover, Rachel Kreyer, Cheryl Monteiro, Jessica Nagourney and Joanna Naugle made numerous fine runs on offense and nearly scored on several occasions while also hustling back to midfield. Biondi. , who was injured late in the game, was a force in midfield along with Thompson and Cathy Harley.

Special mention must be given to Roger Harley, father of Cathy Harley, whose hustle along the sidelines prevented at least four out of bounds balls from going in the nearby creek.

The lightning will be off for Easter this Sunday and resume with an away match at the Montclair United Lightning.

Edison Express (3-2)

A cold gusty wind that reminded everyone of this year’s frigid winter and proved a harbinger to the largest April snowstorm in 20 years turned out to be far more agreeable to the Lightning and their fans than the weather the week before. The result was also more satisfying as the Scotch Plains U13 Girls soccer team bounced back from a season opening 5-0 loss to the Central Jersey Tidalwave to edge the Edison United Express 3-2 Sunday in Edison. It evened the Lightning’s spring record to 1-1 in their debut as a flight 4 team after finishing second in flight 5 a year ago.

Unlike the opener which was played in a cold driving rain that turned the field into a quagmire, the field was in excellent condition for the Edison game. “Last game we were extra concerned with weather conditions that we forgot we had a game to play, We also played against a very good and strong team. “ said coach Luis Rodriguez..

“We're glad to come back to the winning column. It was a great effort from everybody “,
added Rodriguez.

His daughter Heather put the Lightning on top when she skillfully took a crossing pass from Rachel Parker and deposited the ball into the corner of the net. Edison tied the game on a long high looping shot but Katie Cornacchia gave the Lightning the lead for good converting another cross from Parker.

The Lightning extended their 2-1 halftime lead as Cathy Harley executed a fine swerving corner kick that was flicked by Jaclyn Lazarus to Cornacchia who hit a hard low shot just inside the right post. Edison cut the margin in half with another long high shot but the Lightning defense, led by goalie Parker and defenders Javonni Costello and Alyssa Straniero shut the door the remainder of the game. The victory gave the Lightning a 5-0-0 mark against the two Edison teams. They beat both at the Piscataway tournament last September and stopped the Independence twice last fall. This was their first meeting since Piscatawaywith the United Express,which dropped from flight 3,

Rodriguez noted the Lightning’s increased intensity.
“We showed the desire of winning each ball, we showed patience transporting the ball from midfield to up front”, said Rodriguez. He was most effusive in his praise for Costello.

“She showed a superb demonstration of ball and field control. Javonni was our best player today”. As was the case last fall, Lazarus and Parker shared the goalkeeping duties. Maria-Pia Rivero also excelled on defense. Angelica Glover and Joanna Naugle made numerous fine runs on offense and nearly scored on several occasions. Kristen Thompson, Rodriguez, and Harley sparkled in midfield. Rachel Kreyer, Cheryl Monteiro and Jessica Nagourney alternated between offense and midfield and contributed with their hustle. The Lightning were able to win without Nina Brownstone and
Brittany Biondi.

The Lightning play their next game,Sunday April 13 at Park Middle School against the Greater Flemington Freedom.

Flemington (1-2)

While April 13 greeted the Lightning players and parents with long awaited warm weather which miraculously dried up a waterlogged field, the result was an unlucky 2-1 loss to the tough Greater Flemington Freedom,Sunday at Park Middle School Scotch Plains.

Coach Luis Rodriguez was philosophical in defeat noting the tougher competition.
“This was our first contact with flight three team(The Freedom played in that group last fall). They were more alert and quick to the ball, more aggressive, more physical but in my opinion we kept them in track for a good 10-15 first minutes of the second half,” said Rodriguez

The Freedom used strong counterattacks to score one breakaway goal in each half the latter breaking a 1-1 tie. The Lightning had tied the game near the end of the first half on a spectacular header by Kristen Thompson who outjumped two players to direct Brittany Biondi’s cross past a surprised goalkeeper.

“That was a good display of effort and persistence, she deserved that goal, and fought hard for it”, said Rodriguez.

The Lightning,1-2 thusfar this Spring, are experiencing the growing pains of moving up from flight five to flight four a result of their second place finish. While the top two teams in each flight move up the bottom two move down and the middle two stay in place meaning the schedule is far tougher.

“We have to find ourselves in the rhythm of fourth flight, faster, stronger, basically: do the same but quicker.”, said Rodriguez.

“I am not disappointed with our game, but I know we could better. Perhaps with regular practices and knowing our own mistakes we'll get better.”

The Lightning offense clearly missed Heather Rodriguez,the coaches’ daughter who had scored their first goal a week ago. Rachel Parker and Jaclyn Lazarus were busier than usual in goal and made several fine plays to thwart further scoring. The defense of Alyssa Strainero, Javonni Costello and Maria Rivero were busier than usual. Costello made several dazzling runs far up the field from near her own goal.

Angelica Glover, Rachel Kreyer, Cheryl Monteiro, Jessica Nagourney and Joanna Naugle made numerous fine runs on offense and nearly scored on several occasions while also hustling back to midfield. Biondi. , who was injured late in the game, was a force in midfield along with Thompson and Cathy Harley.

Special mention must be given to Roger Harley, father of Cathy Harley, whose hustle along the sidelines prevented at least four out of bounds balls from going in the nearby creek.

The lightning will be off for Easter this Sunday and resume with an away match at the Montclair United Lightning.

2003 HEARTBREAK TOURNAMENT

RAIDERS 2003 HEARTBREAK TOURNAMENT



It was the type of game the coaches envisioned when they divided the Lightning U13 Girls’ Soccer team into two eight player squads for the Heartbreak Tournament at Scotch Plains High School, last Sunday. For twenty five extraordinary minutes the Lightning teams battled with the White squad taking three one goal leads only to have the Blue team battle back for a 3-3 tie.

It came down to a contest of the coach’s daughters with Bernard Glover’s daughter Angelica twice putting the White team ahead only to be countered by Luis Rodriguez’ daughter ,Heather,who deftly took a crossing pass out of the air with a minute left to score the final goal. The tie stopped the White team from clinching first place in the five team round robin. The Blue team rode the momentum of the final minute rescue to easily win its final game against Middlesex while the White team was jolted by three quick goals by Colonia in the last round and lost 5-2,dropping to third place with a 2-1-1 record.

Each team had won its first two games by lopsided scores setting up the round three showdown. The White team coached by Glover was comprised of Katie Cornacchia, Angelica Glover, Cathy Harley, Rachel Kreyer, Jaclyn Lazarus, Joanna Naugle, Alyssa Straniero and Maria-Pia Rivero
The Blue Team coached by Rodriguez contained Brittany Biondi, Nina Brownstone, Javonni Costello, Cheryl Monteiro, Jessica Nagourney, Rachel Parker, Heather Rodriguez and Kristen Thompson

“It was fun seeing the girls playing each other, it was very competitive and serious” said Luis Rodriguez.
“ Both teams wanted to win. The score could not be better and fair. I loved it.”

Naugle had put the White team on the board before Costello equalized. Glover, the leading scorer last fall hit a hard 20 yard shot to make it 2-1 before Rodriguez countered on a rebound for a 2-2 tie. Glover appeared to give the White the win when she connected from 10 yards away. A minute later goalie Rachel Parker made a great save on a hard shot by Straniero to keep it a one goal game and set up Rodriguez’ heroics.

The audience comprised of Lightning family members cheered plays by each side. Everybody agreed that a tie was the best result.

Earlier that morning thirteen of the sixteen had won a hard fought game 4-3 over Edison to advance to the semifinal round of the playoffs in the winter indoor league that is played at City Center in Rahway.

Rodriguez likes the teams’ progress.
“Even though we do not have a good record, it seems that the last two games the group is reaching to a high point, just in time for the playoffs and finals” , said Rodriguez.

Their next game will be against the Scotch Plains U-12 with the winner advancing to the finals.

“The indoor game benefits the team in a concept of controlling, passing, triangulation, defense and many other facts. Hopefully this experience can be carried to the outdoor season”, added Rodriguez.

South Plainfield (4-0)

The Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls’ Soccer team repeatedly dialed long distance in the first half of Sunday’s game and they completed enough of their connections to make for a pleasant end to the fall portion of their schedule. Getting first half goals from Rachel Parker, Cathy Harley and Angelica Glover, all from over 30 yards the Lightning breezed to a 4-0 whitewashing of South Plainfield, to clinch second place with a 6-2 record.

With a warm southwest wind swirling at over 20 miles per hour, the Lightning quickly realized that long high shots would prove very tricky for the goalies. Parker wasted no time in taking a pass from Harley in the defensive side of midfield and racing down the left side where she unloaded from 35 yards and put the ball over the surprised goalie to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead at the six minute mark. Five minutes later Rachel Kreyer fed Harley who blasted a high shot that appeared to be heading over the goal but just made it in under the post. Harley,Javonni Costello and Brittany Biondi all came close to adding to the total before Angelica Glover took a touch pass from Heather Rodriguez on an indirect kick and blasted another high hard shot that the goalie saved but could not hold as the ball trickled over the line.

With a 3-0 halftime lead and a dominant performance that kept things sedate for goalie Jaclyn Lazarus, the Lightning moved players into often unfamiliar positions in the second half. Harley got the only goal of the half, this one from short range with her left foot off a nice crossing pass from Joanna Naugle. Parker completed the shutout by making two saves.

The offense led by hard working Rachel Kreyer threatened all day to add to the lead. Katie Cornacchia and Naugle were impressive on the wings with their dribbling,passing and shooting. Costello, Alyssa Straniero and Maria Rivero were solid as usual on defense.

Kristen Thompson was consistently effective in midfield along with Jessica Nagourney, Biondi, Cheryl Monteiro,Lazarus and Nina Brownstone.

The Lightning will next play in the Rahway Thanksgiving tournament November 29-30.

Montgomery (2-1)

The Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girl’s Soccer team had just enough offense to win on Sunday at Montgomery. A spectacular first half goal by Rachel Parker and an even more skillful one by Angelica Glover in the second half combined with the goal keeping of Jaclyn Lazarus and Parker to lift the Lightning to the 2-1 win which cemented their hold on second place in Flight 5 of the MNYSA. With one game to go, the Lightning lead Montgomery by a game but have swept the two games.

“We played a very good game and deserved to win “, said Coach Luis Rodriguez.
“We did an excellent job of covering on defense”.

Parker got the Lightning on the board 12 minutes into the game when she took a long pass from Cathy Harley and outran two defenders to score on a low shot. It was the second time in three weeks that a long Harley pass had resulted in a goal.

The remainder of the first half was dominated by strong two way play by Brittany Biondi,making a fine recovery from her injury a week ago. Jaclyn Lazarus continued to be aggressive in goal and was effective with her punts. Javonni Costello was brilliant as usual with skillful dribbling and defensive play.

Midway through the second half,leading socrer Angelica Glover gave the Lightning some much needed breathing room when she weaved her way past two players and chipped the ball over the goalie’s head.

“It was a beautiful play. She showed a lot of patience”, said Rodriguez. The Lightning appeared headed to their eighth shutout of the year but Montgomery ruined that dream with a goal three minutes from the finish.

In addition to Costello, Alyssa Straniero,Lazarus and Maria Rivero were solid on defense. In addition to Biondi, Glover and Harley, Heather Roriguez, Nina Brownstone,Joanna Naugle,Jessica Nagourney and Kristen Thompson excelled in midfield. In addition to Parker, Rachel Kreyer,Katie Cornacchia and Cheryl Monteiro
Were threatening on offense. The Lightning complete their fall schedule, traveling to South Plainfield next Sunday.

Edison (5-0)

The result the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls’ soccer team was waiting for didn’t come until well after their game last Sunday with the Central Jersey Tidal Wave had ended. Although the Lightning lost the battle for first place 3-1 at Wardlaw Hartridge School, their main concern was for star midfielder Brittany Biondi who taken off the field early in the second half by ambulance after getting hit hard by a ball in the jaw. Biondi’s injury didn’t turn out to be serious and she should be able to play this week but her loss was definitely felt by the Lightning who faded down the stretch in the second half.

“They deserved to win “, said Coach Luis Rodriguez who was returning after missing last week’s game after undergoing minor surgery.

“We missed Brittany. Our minds may have been more on her than the game”.

When Biondi was injured the Lightning trailed 1-0 on a goal one minute before the end of the first half. After play was delayed for almost 30 minutes, the Lightning broke their huddle to return to the field by yelling “Brittany”.

On the ensuing drop ball, Katie Cornacchia won the loose ball and sent a perfect lead pass to Angelica Glover who exploded past three defenders and beat the goalie with a perfect shot to the opposite left post. With the game tied it appeared that the momentum had swung to the Lightning but the Tidal Wave showed why they are the league’s only unbeaten team by scoring two minutes later. They added a third goal on a perfectly executed corner kick and were able to hold off several attacks by the Lightning to beat Scotch Plains for the second time this fall.

The first half was a nip and tuck battle. Jaclyn Lazarus, playing her best game of the year in goal was effective with some excellent punts and was aggressive in cutting off some long passes. The defense of Kristen Thompson, Maria Rivero,Alyssa Straniero and Javonni Costello was solid along with the midfield of Biondi,Cathy Harley,Heather Rodriguez, Nina Brownstone, and Glover. Joanna Naugle was dangerous and creative on left forward,coming close to scoring several times. Rachel Parker,who played goal in the second half,Rachel Kreyer, Cheryl Monteiro and Cornacchia were effective on the line.

The Lightning face another difficult game this Sunday when they travel to Montgomery to meet the Charge who are tied with them for second place.

Edison (5-0)

The Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls Soccer team knew how to make their missing coach’s recuperation easier. Aware that Coach Luis Rodriguez, recovering at home from minor surgery, would phone in at halftime, the Lightning exploded with a four goals, their highest scoring first half of the year, and cruised to a 5-0 whitewash of the Edison United Independence, Sunday at a muddy Terrill Middle School. The victory was the third straight for the Lightning, improving their record to 4-1 and improving their goal aggregate to an impressive 15-3.

“I was confident they would win “, said Rodriguez from his home.
“They are playing well”.

Assistant coaches Bernard Glover and Bonnie Thompson filled in ably for Rodrgiuez and his daughter, Angelica Glover made certain her father would be successful with two goals and an assist. The Lightning repeatedly exploited a weakness in the center of the Edison defense with relentless passes down the middle. The first goal developed off a pass from Javonni Costello to Glover who raced down the left side and sent a looping shot over the goalie that hit the post and bounced straight down where an alert Kristen Thompson tapped it in.

Several minutes later Heather Rodriguez sent a perfect through pass to Glover who hit a well placed right footed shot past the
Overmatched goalie. The third goal might have been the prettiest of the day as Cathy Harley won a ball on the right sideline and did a spin move away from her defender before launching a long ball down the middle where Joanna Naugle gathered it in and launched a hard left footed shot. Glover ended the first half barrage when she won a scramble in front of the net and put in a short shot.

With a four goal lead the Lightning moved players around and lost some of their continuity. Defensive standout Alyssa Straniero was given a chance to play offense and showed explosive speed in scoring on a breakaway minutes after just missing on a similar chance.
With Edison picking up their play in the second half, the Lightning needed some acrobatic goal keeping by Rachel Parker to retain the shutout. Jaclyn Lazarus had less to do as the first half goalie with Costello, Straniero, Maria Rivero providing fine defense. Rodriguez, Thompson, Brittany Biondi, Harley and Nina Brownstone were dominant in midfield and Naugle, Glover, Parker, Cheryl Monteiro and Rachel Kreyer showed explosiveness on the line.

The Lightning played without the injured Katie Cornacchia and Jessica Nagourney. Their next game will be a battle for first place against the Central Jersey Tidalwave who handed the Lightning their only loss.

Montgomery (1-0)

Choosing to shoot from a distance most U13 girls would only pass from, Brittany Biondi made the difference in an otherwise evenly played game between the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls soccer team and the Montgomery Charge Sunday at the Lightning's home field Wardlaw Hartridge School. Her high,looping shot from about 40 yards midway throught the first half was mishandled by the Montgomery goalie and tapped in by an alert Cheryl Monteiro to give the Lightning the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory. Both teams are now 2-1 and played a generally even contest. The difference turned out to be goalkeeping as the Lightning duo of Rachel Parker and Jaclyn Lazarus, aided by the ubiquitous fullback Alyssa Straniero , made no mistakes. "We played a very good game. We made a lot of nice passes out there, " said coach Luis Rodriguez, obviously relieved that the goal held up. Parker left the goal in the second half to provide several exciting long runs down the right wing that almost resulted in the second goal. Lazarus joined Straniero, Javonni Costello, and Maria Rivero to provide a tough defensive wall in front of Parker in the first half,aided immeasurably by the solid midfield play of Kristen Thompson, Cathy Harley,Biondi, Nina Brownstone ,Jessica Nagourney,Rachel Kreyer and Heather Rodriguez. Parker has not surrendered a goal in six games this season. In addition to Monteiro, Joanna Naugle and Angelica Glover were creative in their passing and dribbling and kept the pressure on Montgomery. The Lightning meet South Plainfield this Sunday at 1 pm at Wardlaw Hartridge School.

South Plainfield (3-0)

Showing remarkable poise and patience the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls’ Soccer team upped their record to 3-1 Sunday at Wardlaw Hartridge School with their most well rounded effort of the year, a 3-0 victory over South Plainfield.

“This was our best game of the year ", said coach Luis Rodriguez

Each of the three goals was highlight film material. Jovanni Costello made one of her patented runs from defense to where she patiently deposited a perfect 25 yard shot with her left foot into the upper corner of the goal. Despite the demoralizing effect the goal could have had, South Plainfield fought back hard and almost tied the game on a breakaway that goalie Rachel Parker was able to deflect away. The Lightning added to their lead just before halftime as Angelica Glover drew several defenders to her before passing to a wide open Heather Rodriguez, who had an empty half of the goal to shoot for and calmly hit a low shot into the empty net.

“It’s a play that looks easy but a lot of players shoot it over the goal “, said Rodriguez of his daughter.

“I was really scared I would kick it over the goal “, said Heather Rodriguez. “I have missed that shot before”.

With a 2-0 halftime lead, the Lightning refused to play conservatively and continued to attack. Joanna Naugle made several spectacular runs down the left side where she frequently outmaneuvered two defenders and Katie Cornacchia, back after missing two games was equally effective on the right side. The only goal of the second half turned out to be the ultimate in poise as Glover connected on a perfectly placed penalty kick. What made it so impressive was that she had to shoot a second time because the referee claimed he hadn’t yet blown his whistle. So she calmly made almost the exact shot a second time.

The defense of Alyssa Straniero, Costello, Maria-Pia Rivero, Jaclyn Lazarus and Kristen Thompson made things easy for goalies Parker and Cathy Harley, who split the first half and Lazarus who played most of the second half.

Brittany Biondi seemed to be everywhere from her midfield position and received tremendous support from Harley, Jessica Nagourney, Nina Brownstone and Rodriguez.

Cheryl Monteiro and Rachel Kreyer both had spectacular games on the line and each came inches from scoring.

Because the Union Pulsars dropped their team, the Lightning get an unexpected week off next weekend. Their next scheduled game will be Sunday October 20 against Edison.