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.