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.