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.