Encore Salute to AYSO’s Leader

It seemed only fitting that a picture perfect Palisades day greeted all who participated in last Saturday’s second annual Debbie Held Under-8 Invitational Soccer Tournament, held in honor of the acting AYSO Region 69 Commissioner. Each team played three 28 minute games with the first ones starting at 8:30 a.m. and the final games ending at 12:30 p.m. The all-star style tournament was played on seven different fields. Between games, the teams picnicked, played tag and handed out trophies. Eight girls teams were divided into two pools. In the ‘U’ pool, the Golden Girls, coached by David Markman, managed to edge out the Red Hots Chicks, the Blue Blizzard, and the Blue Dolphins to capture first place. The ‘T’ pool saw both the Turquoise Diamonds (coached by Tim Rand-Lewis) and the Green Dragons (coached by Paul Skikne) post identical 2-0-2 records, but the Turquoise Diamonds were first because they scored more goals in their first game. The Royal Blue Birds and Black Diamond Dragons were third and fourth, respectively. Dennis McCarthy, who coached his daughter’s all-star team three years ago, was the tournament director and Held later praised him for his hard work both before and after the event. Although he no longer has kids in the AYSO program, McCarthy still referees in Region 69. ‘It’s either this or golf, and I’m a better referee than I am a golfer,’ he joked. ‘Refereeing is cheaper than golf and I still have a good excuse to wear funny clothes.’ McCarthy, along with fellow tournament organizers Mary Lynn Richmond, Duncan Thomas, Amy Wittbrodt and Craig Hunegs, are examples of the volunteer spirit that permeates throughout AYSO. McCarthy split 20 boys teams into five pools. Taking first place it all in the ‘V’ Pool with 13 points was the Blue Dragons, coached by Roland Wieshofer and Vivek Allada. Peter Gardiner’s Green Falcons won the ‘W’ pool by outscoring the second-place Green Jaguars. The Falcons had exactly eight players, meaning no substitutes were available. The ‘X’ pool produced fierce competition between the Blue Tigers (coached by Mitchell Pindus) and Steven Glick’s Daredevils, with the Blue Tigers finally take first place. In the ‘Y’ pool, the Orange Fireballs (coached by George Plavec) and the Tidal Waves (coached by Brian Shirken) each won their first two games by one point. They met head-to-head in the decisive game with the Tidal Waves winning, 3-2, to win their pool. The Z pool also had a dramatic finish as Peter Tilton’s Green Lightning Bobs won their first two games and the Fireballs (coached by Lars Ekstrom) won their first and tied their second. The Bobs needed only to tie or not lose by more than one goal to take championship, but the Fireballs stole first place with a hardfought 2-0 victory. In other Region 69 action, the Red Fireballs beat the Big Bad Sweet N’ Low, 5-2, to win the girls’ Under-12 championship Sunday afternoon at Paul Revere Middle School. The Fireballs (12-1-0) avenged their only loss with four goals by Claire Dorfman and one by Hailey Rosenthal. Izzy DeSantis scored both goals for Sweet ‘N Low (9-3-1), which was coached by Jeanne Goldsmith. Sweet ‘N Low reached the finals by outlasting the Power Packs, 2-1, in double overtime Saturday morning and beating Jet Blue in overtime in the semifinals Sunday morning. The Red Fireballs rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to oust the Blue Tsunamis, 5-2, in their semifinal game on goals by Jenna Erickson, Rosenthal, Dorfman (twice) and Jenna Davis. U-10 Girls The Red Hot Chili Peppers posted four shutouts in the playoffs to win their age division. The Peppers toppled the Crushers, 2-0, on a pair of goals by Emma Sanderson, then beat the Eagles in triple overtime, 1-0, on Kennedy Corrin’s game-winner. A 1-0 victory over the Nightmares was next, followed by a 2-0 triumph over the Green Panthers in the championship game Sunday at the Veterans Administration field in Brentwood. Julie Levitan scored the Peppers’ clinching goal. U-12 Boys Two primary colors clashed in the Boys’ Under-12 championship game of the American Youth Soccer Organization’s Region 69 playoffs last Sunday. And by the time the final whistle blew, everyone was seeing red. The Crimson United defeated B.L.U.E., 2-1, and advanced to the Area P Tournament in January. Manny Ghaffari’s United squad (12-2-1) took an early lead when Oliver de Brevannes scored off of a centering pass from Judd Liebman. Early in the second half, Liebman scored off of an assist by Turner Hanley. With the help of defenders Shervin Ghaffari, Kevin Walker, Stephen Callas and Barton Richman, United goalie Casey Jordan made the 2-0 lead stand until late in the fourth quarter. With five minutes left in the game, B.L.U.E. forward Andy Pace scored off of an assist by Charlie Porter to narrow United’s lead to 2-1. In their semifinal game on Sunday morning, Crimson United defeated the Banana Splits, 2-1, as forward Daniel Davis and defender Cole Kahrilas tallied the United goals, assisted by Orly Davis and Parker Hiatt. United beat the Serpents, 4-1, in the quarterfinals on goals by Jordan, Hanley, Liebman and de Brevannes. U-10 Boys Striker Dylan Coleman scored the game-winning goal with four minutes remaining to lift the Blue Waves to a 2-1 upset victory over the Tigers in the championship game Sunday at Veterans Administration field in Brentwood. The Tigers had beaten the Blue Waves, 4-1, in the regular season and it appeared they were on their way to victory again when Jack Jordan scored on a direct free kick from 20 yards out to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead in the first quarter. Coleman countered for the Waves just before halftime when he re-directed a pass from Oliver Levitt into the net. Waves goalie Kenny Arimura kept his team in the game in the second half with numerous saves. Defenders Christian Dooley. Galen Lansbury, Alex Ball, Kavon Spire and Peter St. John played boldly in front of Arimura. Forwards Grant Sholem, Matthew Mazzarella and Brennan Honaker provided the offense for the Waves (10-4), who were coached by Bob Levitt and Chris Ball. The Blue Waves advance to the Area P Tournament in January. Coach Michael Jordan’s Tigers finished 10-2-2. In the quarterfinals Saturday morning at Barrington Park, the fourth-seeded Tigers downed the Blue Blazers, 5-1, with co-captain Eric Alperin netting two goals and John Iacopino, Hagen Smith and Jacob Shmuely each adding one. Jordan, Alex Mack, Tommy Collins and co-captain Nick Ravich each tallied assists for the Tigers and Brad Graboff was a stalwart in goal. Striker Jordan Fehr scored the Blazers’ only goal. The Tigers beat the Cabbage Heads, 5-0, in the semifinals Saturday afternoon on a pair of goals by Alperin and single goals by Jordan, Smith and Shmuely. Chad Kanoff and Sam Clement were standouts for the eighth-seeded Cabbage Heads, who had upset the previously-undefeated Revolution on penalty kicks in the quarterfinals.