POTOMAC, Md. - The U14 girls
of the FSA United West
Hartford Premier team braved
the heat and some the
toughest teams in the
Washington D.C. area as they
won their division of the
Potomac Memorial tournament
in Potomac, Md.
FSA started off strong with
a 5-1 victory over the HYS
Curve (Herndon, Va.) in
Poolesville, Md. Michelle
Medina scored the hat trick
with three goals and
Caroline Smith and Sydney
Shugdinis each kicked in a
goal to round out the
scoring. The girls came back
in the early evening and
played a strong game against
MSC Xcel (Silver Spring, Md).
FSA held an early 3-1 lead
but MSC came back and the
game ended in a 3-3 tie.
Goals were scored by Nicole
DiTomasso, Tori Russo and
Britt Douglass. Britt's goal
was headed in from a corner
kick by Tori. The defense
was led by Lauren Dansereau,
Caroline Murray, Julia
Galvin and Madison Hooper in
goal. The offense was also
led by strong and gutsy play
from Monique Marcelino.
The girls were not deterred
after a tiring day and came
to field on Sunday morning
with a determined attitude.
They defeated the SOCA
Express (Charlottesville,
Va.) 2-0 in an early morning
game. Nicole Medina and
Nicole DiTommaso each scored
goals from long distance
shots from outside the box.
After a several hour
layover, they faced the
Vincent United Aztecs
(Pennsylvania) in the hot
afternoon. The soundly
defeated the Aztecs 5-0 in
the semi-final game of the
tournament. Michelle Medina
dominated the offense with
four goals and Kaylee
Polmatier sealed the game
with a goal of her own. The
shutouts were made possible
by solid defense from Auna
Harvey, Maggie Rose, and
Clarissa Lonero in goal.
The FSA team faced an even
hotter day on Memorial Day
back in Potomac. They were
matched against the Braddock
Road Elite (Fairfax County,
Va.) which is one of the top
ranked teams in Virginia.
The near 100 degree heat and
humidity took its toll on
both offenses and after
regulation play and two
overtimes the game was
knotted at 0-0. The
championship came down to
one of the most pressure
situations in all of sports
- the penalty kicks. Each
team lined up 5 players to
face their opponent's
goalie. Clarissa fearlessy
stopped two of Braddock's
kicks for FSA. Maggie then
lined up her kick and sent a
line drive past the Braddock
goalie for a stunning
victory.
FSA head coach Richie
Michaud said that this
tournament was one of the
hottest he has ever coached
in. "The heat was brutal but
the kids never let it bother
them", said Richie. He added
that "the kids deserved this
victory and I am very proud
of them".
