The U-11 Trumbull United Heat advanced to the Elite 8 of the Connecticut Cup by traveling to Norwalk and leaving with a 1-0 victory.
Trumbull applied early pressure, keeping the ball in Norwalk’s end, which allowed the Heat to have five early chances at goal. The Heat’s attack was finally rewarded when Korrie Monoz finished brilliantly to score the first and only goal of the game.
Norwalk fought to tie the score, making some advances into the Heat’s half, but the grouping of Taylor Lilly, Riley Trubovich, Abby Leonzi, Julia Bike and Megan Garrity held strong in front of goalie Jamie McMahon, who came up with a clutch save in the closing minutes to preserve the win.
The undefeated Heat will look to advance to the Final Four against West Hartford Barca.
Coach Jaime Jorge named Lilly and Bike his players of the game, though, he admitted he could have gone with a number of girls on his roster. “I've coached some good teams in the past, but this group has the chance to be the best ever,” said Jorge, who is United’s director of girls coaching. “They don't take one minute off, whether during practice or a game, they lock in and play hard, but the creativity is what amazes me. They have taken my concept of formation and play to another level.
On Sunday the Heat traveled up to Greenwich to face another tough opponent. Once again, they took the Merritt Parkway home with a 1-0 victory.
With Munoz out, Garrity slid into the striker role and delivered 15 minutes in by burying a sensational shot.
Olivia Cunha, Cici Orizotti, Lexie VanStone, Maddy Lojko and Garrity applied relentless pressure on the Greenwich defense. Trubovich and Garrity were Jorge’s players of the game.
In other weekend action, the U-12 Pumas’ CT Cup hopes ended when they lost 3-1 to West Hartford in the Sweet 16. Olivia Centopani scored the Pumas lone goal. On Sunday, the girls lost 4-2 to Monroe, as Lindsay Bull and Caitlin Ghent put home the goals.
The U-9 Thunder lost 4-2 to Wilton in an exciting back-and-forth game. Olivia Flores scored Trumbull’s first goal with a long-range shot that found the back of the net, tying the game at one. Trumbull would trail again, before Abby Lee found Katie Marchand just inside the 18-yard box. Marchand drilled a right-footed shot into the near, upper corner to tie the game.
Trumbull played with Wilton the rest of the way, but just fell short in the end.
Coaches Tyler Jorge and Kyri Marinos named Flores, Lee and Lily Seltenreich as their players of the game.
“The girls played their best game,” Tyler Jorge said. “The movement of the ball was so nice. We dominated against one of the best teams in our division and gave them a run for their money.”
In boys’ action, the U-11 storm lost to Norwalk, 6-1. Brennan Curtin scored a brilliant goal on a cross from Ethan Sparks-Bakota. Gino Tarantino and William Zaslow played well in goal, while Justin Adorante had a very strong game.