East Brunswick (1-2)

The calendar said autumn but the weather was most summer like and the result was most unlightning like.
After storming through the summer portion of their schedule with five straight victories the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 girls intercity soccer team began the autumn stretch of their season with a tough 2-1 loss to the Central Jersey Tidalwave at East Bruswick VoTech School on Sunday,Sept 22..

Coach Luis Rodriguez was generally pleased with the team’s effort. “It was an even game that could have gone either way. We could have given up but we fought hard until the end. I was proud of them”, said Rodriguez.

Despite missing two key players,Nina Smallwood and Katie Cornacchia, the Lightning were able to strike first for the sixth straight game. After shutting down the TidalWave through a scoreless first half ,goalie Rachel Parker emerged as an offensive force in the second half and converted a perfect cross from Angelica Glover to make it 1-0.

The lead was short lived as the Tidal Wave were given a penalty kick on a controversial hand ball that didn’t appear to go near the Lightning defender’s hands. After converting to tie the game the teams settled into an even tussle with the Lightning outshooting the home team 8-7. Central Jersey made one of their chances count by converting another free kick into the second goal.

The short handed Lightning came close on several occasions down the stretch as they bravely fought off the effects of the stifling heat but could not get the equalizer and will have to look to get their season turned back in the right direction with a home game next Sunday at the Wardlaw Hartridge School against the tough Montgomery Charge. Game time is high noon.

Edison Independence (5-1)

If strange weather breeds strange games then perhaps that helps explain Sunday’s bizarre season opener between the Scotch Plains Lightning U13 Girls Soccer team and the Edison Unite Independence won by the Lightning 5-1.

The game was a rematch of teams that a week earlier had battled to a tense 0-0 tie at the Piscataway tournament decided 1-0 on penalty kicks. The Lightning figured to be at disadvantage this time because they would be missing goalie Rachel Parker, so instrumental in the earlier game.

Even more ominous than the opposition was the weather forecast which forced the teams to have an alternate field to play at in case the rain got too torrential. Thirty minutes before the game was to start the rain pelted the field but almost as an omen the sun came out as the game was too start.

Only two minutes into the game Angelica Glover served notice that this game would be different by converting a long pass from Cathy Harley into
a spectacular breakaway goal. Glover showed remarkable patience placing the ball high into the middle of the goal as the Edison goalie never left her line. Only minutes later Glover was sprung free again by an excellent through pass by Javonni Costello. This time the Edison goalie came out to try and stop Glover but arrived a split second late and Glover had her second goal for a 2-0 lead. The collision left Glover slightly bruised but the Edison goalie needed Emergency personnel to remove her from the field to an ambulance, stopping the game for 25 minutes.

Edison quickly cut into the lead several minutes after resumption converting on a penalty kick. The half ended almost right after that containing perhaps 15 minutes of game action and 25 minutes of stoppage time.

With the weather still cooperating the Lightning increased their cushion in the second half with two goals that originated off the strong right foot of Cathy Harley. On her first direct kick the Edison goalie was unable to hold onto the ball and Joanna Naugle alertly tipped it in. Five minutes later the goalie was unable to catch another hard Harley kick that made it 4-1.

Costello, a standout on defense showed her offensive skill by converting a pass from Kristen Thompson into a low well place left footed goal.. And as the game ended and the players and fans went to the safety of their automobiles the sky finally opened up and it poured.

Although giving up their first goal of the year on a debatable hand ball the Lightning defense remained unyielding. Goalies Jaclyn Lazarus, Brittany Biondi and Harley combined to fill in well for Parker. The defensive wall of Alyssa Straniero , Costello and Maria Pia Rivero, melded with fine midfield play by Katie Cornacchia, Nina Brownstone and Heather Rodriguez and line performances by Jessica Nagourney, Rachel Kreyer, Joanna Naugle and Cheryl Monteiro.

The Lightning play again on Sunday September 22 at the Central New Tidalwave

Piscataway Labor Day Tournament

The Scotch Plains Lightning U 13 Intercity Girls Soccer team swept through their first test of the season winning all four games at the Piscataway tournament September 7-8 at Piscataway High School.

While the degree of difficulty differed from game to game the common thread that ran through the sweltering late summer weekend was stingy defense and clutch goalkeeping with just enough offense. The final victory was the most dramatic as the Edison United Independence battled the Lightning to a scoreless tie that was decided on penalty kicks.

Goalie Rachel Parker was unscored upon in five shots and Heather Rodriguez converted her penalty shot to give the Lightning the victory and clinch the title. Parker made a sprawling diving save on Edison’s third shot to preserve the scoreless tie before Rodriguez,who celebrated her birthday the day before, hit a hard high shot into the middle of the net.

Earlier on Sunday, the Lightning were true to their name breaking a scoreless tie in the second half with a barrage of two goals in a minute to defeat the Edison United Express .2-0. Angelica Glover took a long pass from Cathy Harley and outran the defense before hitting a perfectly placed left footed shot into the corner. A minute later Rodriguez,the daughter of coach Luis Rodriguez took a pass from Rachel Kreyer and hit a hard low shot from ten yards away. The result was made even more impressive because the Express play two flights higher than the Lightning.

Parker played the second half in goal in each of the four games. On Sunday, Jaclyn Lazarus held the Edison teams scoreless in the first half while on Saturday it was Brittany Biondi and Cathy Harley combining in the first game and Rachel Kreyer in the second game.

The first Saturday contest was a dominating 1-0 victory over Metuchen which was much more one sided than the score may indicate. Glover provided the only scoring on a penalty kick but the Lightning had numerous opportunities to score while keeping the ball almost entirely in the Metuchen end.

In the second game they finally converted some of the opportunities in a comfortable 3-0 triumph. Katie Cornacchia initiated the scoring by converting a pass from Kristen Thompson. The Lightning poured it on with Javonni Costello and Brittany Biondi tallying on two long high shots.

All weekend the defense suffocated the opposition. Making life easy for the goalies were fullbacks Javonni Costello, Alyssa Straniero, and Maria-Pia Rivero. Shuttling between midfield and offense were Joanna Naugle, Nina Brownstone, Jessica Nagourney and Cheryl Monteiro.

The Lightning face a rematch with the Edison United Independence next Sunday – 1:30 pm at Thomas Edison Park-Field 1.