Trumbull United Soccer picked up some medals at the recent Glastonbury Hartwell Spring Warm-up Tournament.
The U-11 boys Storm won three out of four games to finish in second place in a six-team field. The boys beat host Glastonbury on Saturday, behind two goals from Jake Biondi and one from Justin Adorante. In goal, Will Zaslow stood tall. After a 1-0 loss to Norwalk on Saturday afternoon, the boys needed a strong showing if they were going to make the hour drive back to Trumbull with medals around their necks. They came through in a big way on Sunday.
Behind the goaltending of Gino Tarantino, the Storm won their final two games in conditions befitting their name. They defeated Greenwich 3-1, behind goals from Biondi, Jake Hull and Luca Antonio, before dominating Old Greenwich 4-0 on goals from Hull, Carson Brunone, Brennan Curtin and Ethan Sparks-Bakota.
The U-12 girls Pumas also won the second place prize at the tournament. The girls, displaying the form that made them Cup quarterfinalists in the fall, went 2-1-1 in the tournament. With Julia Marin doing well in goal all weekend, the Pumas played four tough games. On Saturday, they kicked off with a 2-0 victory over the hosts from Glastonbury. The first goal of the game came from the speedy Payton Corsi off a through ball from Evelyn Marchand. The Pumas doubled their lead in the second half when Katie Ghent and Marchand had a pretty combination play to set up Isabella Moreira’s shot to ensure the 2-0 win. The whole defense played strong, according to coach Meg Loughman, led by Ashley Velloso in the middle. In the second game, the girls outplayed Wilton 3-1. Marchand assisted Corsi again, while Rachel Kapteina and Oliva Centopani put up a goal each. The defense and midfield played well, as Loughman pointed to Kapteina, Caroline Pagliaro and Lindsay Bull for excellent play. On Sunday morning, with the silverware in sight, the girls played Farmington in what amounted to a title-game of sorts. Marin saved her fellow Pumas in the first half by deflecting a breakaway shot from about 12 yards out off the crossbar. In the second half, Farmington scored a disputed goal. The Pumas had their chances, but couldn’t convert and lost to the eventual champs, Farmington, 1-nil. That left it up to a game with Old Greenwich for the girls to do enough to place second. The Pumas, who were crushed by injuries, were down to 13 players for the game, played in wet and cold conditions. In a feisty game, the girls ended up in a 0-0 tie. Marin saved a couple of breakaways and the girls went home knowing they played the right way and with medals for their efforts.
This past weekend, the U-9 Thunder continued their strong play, splitting their two games. On Sunday, the girls defeated Darien, 2-1. In the first half, Emily Meagher rocketed home a penalty kick to tie the game at one. The score remained that way until 10 minutes remained in the match. At that point, midfielder Katie Marchand made a long run down the left side and found Lily Seltenreich alone in the penalty box. Seltenreich took one touch before finishing to give the Thunder the 2-1 victory. Coaches Tyler Jorge and Kyri Marinos named Marchand, Peyton Bashar and Jocelyn VanStone as their players of the game. On Saturday in Greenwich, the girls controlled most of the action, but lost 3-1. Their goal came on a free kick in which Olivia Flores found Abby Gruttadauria in the box. Gruttadauria turned and fired with authority. The coaches named Meagher, Gruttadauria and Abby Lee as the team’s players of the match.