Yankee Newsletter December 2010

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VOL 2 ISSUE 2! DECEMBER 27, 2010

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Yankee United News

Blaze of Glory: U-16s Win Title

Defeat Eastern NY Powerhouse Alleycats in Final 1-0Despite a 25 to 30 mile per hour wind and

temperatures in the low 40s, the U-16 Blaze managedto generate some heat of their own. The Blaze rolledover the Commack Attack 3-0 in their first game;then edged World Class 2-1 and tied Teysa FC 1-1 intheir second and third qualifying games; Thatperformance was good enough to earn them a berthin the finals where they defeated the Alleycats 1-0.

The Blaze benefited from balancedscoring, with 4 different playerscontributing goalsduring thetournament;including:Kiana Rugar(2), TurnerBlock (2),

ShelbyMeckstroth(2), and Katie Coyle.Coyle scored thegame winner overWorld Class. Assistswere contributed by:Kasey Butts,KianaRugar, Turner Block, SiriAndrews, and JennaSaymon.

The defense put forwarda stellar team effort and led by CaptainNikki Peterson, Captain Siri Andrews, KaseyButts, and newcomer Sierra Stein. MeganFitzGerald turned in a tremendous performance inall 4 games capped by a monster shutout and 8 bigsaves in the Championship game.The biggest saveof the game came during a scoreless first half whenthe Alleycats beat the Blaze defense and blasted a

shot to the far upper 90. FitzGerald got up with afull extension dive and deflected the shot away.Thelast 5 minutes of the game was past dusk and theAlleycats played 4 corners all of which Meg got upfor and punched away. Turner Block scored the game winner offa service from

Kasey Butts beatingthe keeper to the balland heading it in.Kasey Butts nearlyput the Blaze at2-0 in the finalminutesdribbling by 3players andripping a shotfrom 35 yardsout to the

uppercorner.TheAlleycats

keeperwas in

position,and though caught

offguard, got a fingertip onthe ball. 5 new players and

returning veteran playerscontributed atremendous amount of strength and depth through

all 4 games. It was a great final showing a ton ofpotential for a talented, deep, and experienced Blazeteam.

I am very proud of what our playersaccomplished at NEWSS, which continues to be oneof the top showcase tournaments in the country.said coach Nicki Periera. This is great start to ourU-16 season and helps us build confidence andmomentum heading into the Disney Showcase.


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Its official! Starting in the summer of next year,Yankee United FC will field a Super 20s team in the

Youth Premier Soccer League (YPSL). Featuringnames such as the Stars of Mass, FCRevolution, South Jersey United, theleague offers each club theopportunity to field womens teams ina true U20 league, and to give theirplayers somewhere to play whentheyre back from college in thesummer. Most importantly, the YPSLprovides a place for college-bound players tocompete with collegiate players prior to that all-important freshman year.

Our focus at Yankee has always been onpreparing our players to compete and succeed at thecollegiate level. The YPSL provides us with theopportunity to helps these girls in that critical finalstage of preparation for their first year of collegiateplay. says coaching Director Wayne Mones. It alsobrings those players back to us in their sophomoreand junior years, where they can enrich theexperience of our younger players in their junior andsenior years.

Here are some quick facts about YPSL:

The YPSL is a U-21 league which is theofficial partner of the Women's Premier Soccer

League (WPSL).

The YPSL in many cases provides a reserve

league for those players, and in other cases, providesa providing ground for younger players on

their way to the senior teams andcollege soccer.

The YPSL focuses on regionalcompetition with the aim of no gamebeing no more than 2 hours away.

The 10-game season will run frommid-May through the end of July with all teams to becarded through US Club Soccer.

While the League is focused on college

bound seniors and collegiate soccer players, youngerplayers are eligible to play at their clubs discretion.

The YPSL requires minimum standards fromall clubs to ensure a quality playing surface, a trainerin attendance and water to be provided to bothteams.

Success in high school and premier doesntguarantee success in college. YPSL provides anopportunity for us to help improve the odds in ourplayers favor. observed Mones. I am very proudthat Yankee has been accepted into the YPSL. Ilook forward to working with our alumni and

college-bound players to make this a rich andrewarding experience for all.

Yankee to Field Super 20s Team in YPSL in 2011

The Yankee U11 Heat were 3-0-1 at theSky Blue FC tournament at the SoccerColiseum in Teaneck, NJ. Thisoutstanding performance earned them aberth in the Championship game, whichbe played at Rutgers Stadium this April

as an opener to an upcoming Sky BlueFC match. Congratulations girls!

I am very proud of these young ladies.said coach Chris Periera. It is a greathonor to be able to play in achampionship game on a bigger stage.This a great way for them to start theirSpring season!

Heat Reach Final


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The Yankee United Stars played well in both oftheir pre-Disney tune-up tournaments but fell short ofwhat they needed to garner a title.

At NEWSS, the Stars defeated the USP OceanEagles 1-0 and the Jersey Knights 4-1 in windy and coldconditions on Day 1. In much better playingconditions on Day 2, they defeated Brentwood 1-0 toadvance to the Championship game. The Stars lost aclose one to Atlantic United 1-0 in the final.

At the Massapequa Winter College Showcase, the

Stars tied their three opponents by scores of 1-1, 1-1 and0-0. In each of those games, the Stars had theirchances for victories but were unable to score the gamewinner.

In their game against New Hyde Park Wildcats,for example, the Stars scored first on a beautiful goal byLindsay Macri, early in the second half which broke a0-0 tie (see photo, right). However, the game

continued to unfold as a series of attacks and counter-attacks. And mid-way through the 2nd half, theWildcats got offa clean shot from just outside the 18 toearn the tie.

The difference between a win, tie and a loss isvery slight at this level. observed Coach WayneMones. We know which aspects of the game we needto improve on to make the difference. We now need toexecute.

Is it too much to ask to win the games inwhich you dominate? Fair question and

one that was very appropriate based onthe Strikers experience at the NEWSSTournament last month.

The Strikers finished with a recordof 1-1-1, but maintained possession for themajority of each game. Overall they outshot theiropponents by a 2 to 1 margin but could not find theback of the net. Meanwhile, on the few offensiveforays they permitted the opposing team, theyallowed a total of five goals in three games, includinga 40-yard strike that gave their opponent the win.

No game was more emblematic of this than

their first game against Quickstrike FC (NY-E).Playing into a fierce wind, the Strikers kept the ballon the ground and moved it almost effortlesslyagainst an overmatched opponent. Yet Quickstrikemanaged to score on the second of their twolegitimate opportunities, beating the keeper on abreakaway mid-way through the 2nd half. TheStrikers countered with a goal by Sabrina Toole

shortly thereafter but were not able to score a2nd goal to seal the win.

The Strikers were less dominant ingame 2 and did manage to score butgave up 4 goals over the 60 minutes tothe eventual winner of the bracket. Apotentially game tying goal by Eliza

Paltauf in the final minute of the game was nullifiedwith a very close offsides call.

The Yankee U-15swere able to pull ittogether in game 3and played their best60 minutes of soccer

against Brentwood,dominating play andfinishing onopportunities for a3-0 win and thelingering question ofwhat might havebeen.

U-17 Stars Make Finals at NEWSS; Tie at WCS

U-15 Strikers Are Semi-Finalists at NEWSS


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The Connecticut High School CoachesAssociation has name Jack Nogueira, coach of theSt. Joseph Cadets, as their Coach of the Year for

Girls Soccer for 2010. Nogueira will be honored at abanquet in May of next year.

With the loss of 11 seniors, including All-American Jess Schloth and All-New England SarahFrassetto, from a team that had won two statechampionships and an FCIAC title it would havebeen reasonable to expect 2010 to be a rebuildingyear. Not quite. The Cadets earned a regular seasonrecord of 11-3-2, with Coach Nogueira routinelystarting 5 freshman, 3 sophomores, 2 juniors and 1senior. They completed their 2010 season ranked

4th in the FCIAC, which many consider to be thetoughest conference in Connecticut, and reachedthe Quarterfinals of the State Tournament.

While it is not the first time that CoachNogueira has won this award, it is perhaps the mostsatisfying of the three. I think the award fromCHSCA reflects their understanding of the difficultyand respect for what Jack was able to accomplish

this year with such a young team observed Yankee

Coaching Director Wayne Mones.In many ways, his experience in the High

School season parallels his success with his U-15Strikers team, 5 of which are members of his Cadetsroster. The Strikers are ranked 5th in Connecticut.

Yankee is proud to recognize the coachingexcellence and accomplishments of Coach Nogueira.

Yankee Players Help Their Teams Excelin Post Season Play

It was a wild year for the Shelton HighSchool Gaels and the Mustangs of ImmaculateHigh School. For Shelton, it was their first-ever Girls Soccer Class LL title. and forImmaculate it was their 3rd Class S title in arow. Yankee Stars teammates Angela Ferro andMegan Manzo were key factors in helping theGaels make school history. The two ledscoring not only for their team but also among

schools in the region. U-17 Stars defenderCorinna Da Silva and U-16 Blaze defender

Sierra Stein helped prove the point thatdefense wins championships: again, again, andagain. In fact, Immaculate has used thatphilosophy to win 7 out of the last 10 Class SState Tournament Titles. Congratulationsladies!

High School Roundup: News and NotesSix Yankee Players Lead Top Ten High SchoolScoring Leaders

The regular season scoring published by the CT Posttells the story of the impact Yankee United players arehaving on high school action in SouthWesternConnecticut. Five of the top ten scoring leaders belongto the Yankee U-17 Stars: Alysa Christo, Angela Ferro,Megan Manzo, Dana Cosmedy, and Chelsea Boursiquot.Congratulations girls!

Jack Nogueira Named Coach of the Year

Immaculate High SchoolClass S Champions


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Yankee is Pleased to Recognize the Achievementsof our High School Players: Kudos all Around!

Jaclyn Giordano

Ridgefield Tigers

2010 All-AmericanSelection

Alysa Christo

Saint Joseph Cadets

2010 All-New EnglandSelection


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PAGE 6The U-15 Strikers at the NEWSS Tournament


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PAGE 7The U-17 Stars at the Massapequa Winter Showcase


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Yankee Board

Members

President/Coaching

Director

Wayne Mones

Administrator and

Registrar

Dee Demers

Treasurer

Jack Nogueira

Referee AssignorEduardo Mozza

For most college students, Spring Break meansgoing someplace warm, sitting on the beach and,typically, partying into the wee hours of the

morning. For Yankee Alumni Kristin Forster and 5 ofher Yale teammates, they are going someplace warmbut doing something far more remarkable andmemorable with their free time: making a differencein the lives of young African girls.

Forster and her teammates are headed to Kenyato run soccer clinics for young Maasai girls who havehad limited exposure to the sport, much less tofemale athletes that play at this level. A key task thatwill make this trip a success is gathering enoughequipment to enable them to provide training andplay games. Kristin has asked Yankee if the clubwould be willing to collect old gear from variousteams that we could ship over and donate to a schoolfor Massai children.

The girls will run an enrichment programworking with young Maasai girls using soccer as ameans of empowerment. The program has beencoordinated with the headmaster of Ole SankalePrimary Boarding School in Narok, Kenya and

provides theopportunitynot only to

teach soccer,but also toestablish across-culturalrelationship.The Maasaitriberemainsdedicated toa semi-nomadiclifestyle despite governmental efforts to modernizetheir way of life. The culture is largely male-dominated and resistant to change. The Ole SankaleSchool has long been a leader in education forMaasai girls, and is strongly supportive of thisgroups mission.

Please see the Yankee website for furtherinformation on how you can help support this effort.

Kristen Forster(#5) on the pitch for Yale.

Help Wanted: Yankee Alum Traveling toKenya to Teach

Yankee Newsletter December 2010

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