The EBSC Strikers (U10B), coached by Gary Hoeni, had a wonderful Memorial Day Tournament in Manalapan, winning all four of their games.
The EBSC Hurricanes II (U12B), coached by David Kirschenbaum, played very well in the Manalapan Memorial Day Tournament in an extremely tough bracket, finishing with two big wins.
The EBSC Force (U13B) played a four-game round robin this weekend at the 2008 MSSL Explosion Tournament held at Ft. Dix and went home champions of the Boys U13 division. Playing against teams from Delaware, New York and New Jersey, the Force demonstrated how 11 players -- defense, midfielders and forwards -- operate as one cohesive team. Coached by Lennaert Bitters of Soccer Centers with Peter Grimando as General Manager, Force team members include forwards Zach Becker, Jaysen Bohrod, Luigi Buffolino and Feli Csombok, midfielders Thomas Cagnetta, Sean Doyle, Eric Geider, Joseph Grimando, Josh Kersner, Dan Korman and Thomas Merse, defenders Kevin Brix, Rich Kehoe, Chris Mosier and Domenic Polidoro, and keepers Grant Korten and Evan Manno.
The EBSC Rockets (U14B) showed off some great soccer and a never-quit attitude at this past weekend’s Manalapan Memorial Day Tournament, earning runners-up trophies in their group. Sitting in third place behind their second-place opponent, Waldwick, the Rockets knew that a victory would mean a chance to take home some hardware. Despite trailing Waldwick 1-0 at halftime, the boys showed no quit. For the last 30 minutes, they attacked the Waldwick goal relentlessly, first tying the game five minutes into the second half and then scoring the game-winner halfway through. The Rockets’ rock-solid defense and aggressive midfield play took over from there. Team members include Rahul Guha, Andrew Au-Yeung, Stephen Ripp, Konnor Kish, Rohan Rao, John Michael Bicho, Andrew Chimento, Doug Bason, Tim Khalil, Jaineel Kothari, Peter Sassine, Carlos Torrelio, Kevin Wood, Corey Schiffres and Jon Sweet. William Ying contributed as a guest player. The Rockets are coached by Steve Wood, Mike Ripp and Factor Torrelio.
The EBSC Bulldogs (U-14G) have been on quite a roll lately. The girls finished in first place in the East Windsor Summer Blast Off tournament, thanks to two shutout wins. They followed that up by shutting out two of three opponents and coming away with a close second place finish in the Burlington Memorial Day tournament, losing first place on a tie-breaker. The Bulldogs are anchored in goal by Ashley Gomola and on defense with Erica Amen, Hanna Lustig, Irene Shoung and Nicole Schwailik. Midfielders include Allison Regna, Claudine Michael, Michelle Mule, Danni Lebovitch and Lyndsey Gatton. The forwards are Jill Lawnick, Sivan Yair and Jamie Banhalmi. The Bulldogs are coached by Rich Amen and trained by Tommy Coohill.
The EBSC Lightning (U15B) proved that good guys do finish first sometimes. Playing a Silver Lake Spartans team from Staten Island that had just 7 players for this past weekend’s Manalapan Memorial Day Tournament, the Lightning’s coach, Joe Evans, took EBSC players off the field to avoid exploiting his team’s numbers advantage. The Lightning fell behind, 2-0, and, even though many other teams would have put its additional players back on the field to even the score, the EB team stuck to its plan and came back with three late goals for an exciting 3-2 victory that reminded everyone that good sportsmanship -- and not just winning -- is what’s most important.
The EBSC Breakers (U15G) won the top flight of the 2008 Virginian Tournament this past weekend, winning 4 games and tying 1 and not allowing a goal all weekend. The Breakers opened the tournament by beating the Tennessee Greenville Galaxy, 4-0. Up next came a challenge from a highly ranked team from Maryland, The Freestate Inferno. That closely contested match ended in a 0-0 tie. Needing a win to advance to the semifinals, the Breakers beat another ranked Maryland team, the CSA Fury,1-0. With that win, the Breakers won their flight and now moved on to the semifinals against a NJ MAPS rival, the Highland Power. That match ended in a 0-0 tie. After two 10-minute overtime periods, the game went to a PK shootout, which the Breakers prevailed, winning 3-1. In the finals, the Breakers would have a rematch against the Freestate Inferno. After taking a 1-0 lead early in the match, the Breakers battled for the remaining 60 minutes and went on to win the game. Team members of the 2008 Virginian Tournament champion Breakers are Rebecca Acevedo, Lauren Edelman, Vicki Fernandes, Rachael Gala, Ilyssa Kaplan, Ashley Kelly, Natalie Mchale, Shannon Nulty, Ali Ragusa, Cassie Riccio, Elise Roughan, Angie Shehaj, Linda Sollecito, Alyssa Steinweis and Hanna Wey. The Breakers are coached by Tom Sollecito and Ray Kelly and trained by Brad Caruso.
The EBSC Extreme (U16B) completed a four-game sweep enroute to winning the 2008 MSSL Explosion Tournament this past Memorial Day weekend in Fort Dix. Outstanding defense, led by Tim Brix, Larry Nicosia, Tim Gandy and Jason Chung, helped Extreme surrender just one goal all weekend. Goalkeeper Anthony Gudzak was outstanding in the nets. Offensively, the team scored 11 goals, led by Eric Palisay (4 goals) and Mike Zinberg (3 goals). Also scoring were Eddie Simoes, Mark Schaff, Shane Santiago and Mike Pavelchak.
The EBSC Rage (U16G), fresh off its semifinal appearance in the NJ State Cup/National Championship tournament, stayed red-hot this past weekend in the MSSL/MAPS Premier College Showcase in Ft. Dix. The girls won their flight championship with wins over Den of Lions (4-0), Bordentown (3-1), BMU Blast (4-0) and Phoenix, PA, in a PK shootout in the finals
