U-15s continue winning with 4-2 score
The Ballistic United U-15s continued their recent unbeaten run in league play this week-end with a thoroughly convincing 4-2 win over the East Diablo Lightning Saturday at the Sports Park. In what has become almost a tradition for this team, they fell behind early when the East Diablo right-winger beat his marker and cut in towards goal before firing an unstoppable shot into the far corner of the Ballistic goal.
True to form, Ballistic shrugged off the early set-back and equalized when Toby Harvey the Ballistic left-winger cut in from the flank and fired home past the keeper in similar fashion to the opening goal. A nicely-worked free-kick released Seth Niermeyer inside the box and he eagerly snapped up the chance to put Ballistic ahead. Spurred on, no doubt, by their coach’s halftime talk, East Diablo came out fired up in the second half and drew level when defensive uncertainty by the Ballistic back-four allowed an East Diablo forward to sneak in behind them and hook the ball home off a defender. They were not level for long however as Toby Harvey restored Ballistics lead from the penalty spot minutes later after an East Diablo defender was adjudged to have handled the ball deliberately inside the penalty area. Ballistic maintained their composure in the face of some aggressive play by their opponents and put the game beyond reach when Jason Chow headed on a throw-in to Seth Niermeyer, who blasted home his second goal of the game to make the final score 4-2 in favor of Ballistic.
Rage tie San Ramon Illusion
The Rage U13AC Division 2 team came out strong in the third game of the season last Saturday, powered by offensive efforts in the second half. The game ended in a 0-0 tie against San Ramon Illusion at Athans Down. Many shots were made on goal, but kept out by the goal post. Offense of Melissa Muller, Molly Grozier, Keli Wheatley and Anjali Rai kept up the attack. Defense was led by Dani Leedeman, Paige Hughes, Lauren Fan and Evan Murphy.
A great game was played by the Pleasanton Rage U11 Grey to result in a 2-2 tie against the Mustang Stampede last Saturday at Osage Park in Danville. Sophia Martinez and Sabrina D’Ambrosia (with an assist from Bailey Sanchez) tied the game at 2-2. Awesome goalie play was made by Christy Jensen and Cara Ingram. Top Offensive Players: Sophia Martinez, Sabrina D’Ambrosia, Christy Jensen. Top Defensive Players: Kayla Bowers, Hannah Schwartz, Hailey Bouchard
Raiders tame the Broncos
The Raiders started week three of the Pleasanton Junior Football League season kicking off to the Broncos. After picking up six yards, Raider defensive end Kane Millerstrom was called for off sides, giving the Broncos 1st and 10. The Broncos go to the air with LB Harrison Mayo nearly picking the pass. With redemption on his mind Millerstrom bolted into the Broncos backfield shooting between QB & RB, stealing the handoff and taking it untouched 39 yards for the Raiders first defensive TD of the season and the game.
On the Broncos next series they returned to their air attack only to have the ball picked by LB Trevor Berryman who returns it 20 yards to the Bronco 39 yard line. Seven plays later, RB Drew Imhof runs it for six more and LB Hayden Goldstein punched it in for the two-point PAT, 14-0.
The Broncos marched into the second quarter with a four-yard pass reception in the end zone picking up their first TD of the game, bringing the score to 20-6. The Raider offense controlled most of the second quarter sustaining a 6:56 drive only to give the ball to the Broncos on a fumble. The Raiders received the second half kick and march 69 yards for their fourth TD of the game, 26-6 was the score. The Broncos caught a break on a Raider fumble to return it for a second touchdown, but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the Raiders, who won 26-14.
U15 Premier prevail against Marin
The Pleasanton Rage U15 Premier played a determined Marin side Saturday, but after falling behind midway through the first half, came back to prevail 2-1 in nail-biting fashion. Rage’s sluggish start caused them to trail at the break and in need of a spark, which came in the 62nd minute when Erika Emmanuel knotted the score courtesy of an error by the Marin keeper. From that point on, Rage applied relentless pressure but could not break the deadlock until very late in the game as Florife Nichols slotted home a perfect cross from Kiki Simmons. Darlene Dang and Gabe Stange keyed the late Rage attack, while the stout defense of Rachel Charkowicz, Brett Scheckla, Kiley Zietler, Sabrina Unglaub, and Jill Anderson limited Marin to only two shots. Rage goal keepers Ani Nahapetian and Phoebe Brown played well in stifling the opposition’s attack by gobbling up several through balls that their forwards attempted to run onto.
Ballistic United U12 Class 1 started off a little slow in the first half against Livermore Saturday, falling behind 2-1 at Amador Valley Community Park at halftime. Stephen Dougherty scored the first goal on a beautiful cross from Sahit Menon. In the second half, Daniel Rodriguez scored the second goal on a penalty kick from about 20 yards out. The defense of Daniel Payne, Cameron Casby, Collin Alexander, Blaz Perko and Collin Blaney kept Livermore from scoring in the second half. Final score: Ballistic 2, Livermore 2. In the second game of the day, Ballistic United faced Placer 97 Black in Nor Cal Cup play. Ballistic won 5-1. Teamwork was the key to the victory with assists coming from Collin Richardson, Alex Krause and Menon. The offensive scoring power of Gabe Thurner, Dougherty, Justin Taylor, Krause and Menon found the back of the net for Ballistic. The defense again kept their opponent scoreless in the second half. Sam Musbach again did an outstanding job as goalie, stopping many scoring chances by the opponent.
The Plesanton Rage U11 AC White team won a hard-fought game against their NorCal division rival San Ramon Courage, 3-2 last Saturday. Goals were scored by Madison Avery, Lisa DeFeo and
Julia Densmore in the team’s 3-2 win. Makenna Elias played well at midfield as did Megan Shackley and Nicole Tsuno at defense. Goal keepers Juliet Allen, Bryanna Schreiber and Monica Martinez each had multiple saves.
The visiting Ballistic United U16 White played the Walnut Creek Diablos, finishing with a 4-1 win on Saturday at Arbolado Park. The Ballistic had a total 17 shots on goal in the match taken by Josh Cho, Jake Lorentz, Randy Copeman, Jared Shohfi, Brandon Cohen, Anthony Hu, Luis Castillo, and Tyler Mende. Jake Lorentz scored the first goal for the Ballistic in the 25th minute with assists by Randy Copeman and Brandon Cohen. Jared Shohfi punched in the second goal with an assist from a well placed cross by Yashar Behnam ending the first half up 2-0. The most exciting goal of the match was a head whipped header into the net by Anthony Hu in the 44th minute off a perfectly placed cross by Randy Copeman. Walnut Creek followed with their only goal in the 63rd minute. A foul by Walnut Creek in the 77th minute resulted in a direct kick taken by Brandon Cohen from 30 yards out that was a textbook bending shot into the top right corner of the net which capped off the win for the Ballistic. Keeper Lukas Moses had three key saves in the match.
Lauren Floro of the Rage U16 Division 1 scored two goals and Cheyenne Kisthardt scored another to beat Bay Oaks Sunday in Alameda 3-0. Assists were given by Vivian Climent and Simone Melvin. Alana D’Onofrio, Natasha Springer and Sara Brathwaite played well to secure the win.
The Rage U15 Premier maintained their perfect GSSL Gold league record with a 3-2 victory Sunday over the stubborn Hayward Cyberrays at Amador Valley Community Park. Rage found themselves in a 0-1 hole at the half after being unable to clear a bouncing ball in the box that Hayward got a foot onto midway through the first half. Rage unleashed a strong passing game to being the second half, and got the equalizer in the 45th minute when Bria Outland put away a shot from 10 yards out after a poor defensive trap came right to her. Rage continued attacking effectively thanks to controlling midfield play by Kiki Simmons, Erika Emmanuel, Darlene Dang, and Elisa Verita. Forwards Gabe Stange and Florife Nichols finally broke through the Hayward defense in the 70th and 76th minutes, each scoring point-blank goals by way of assists from the other to put the game out of reach.
The Ballistic Black under-19 boys Al Caffodio team split its two games over the weekend with a 1-2 lost to the Walnut Creek Evolution on Saturday, and bounced back with a 5-2 win over the Walnut Creek Revolution on Sunday. Ballistic’s record is now at 5-1 for league play. Ballistic lost a tough match to the Evolution on Saturday. Nathan Roberts scored early in the game from a David Norton pass on the end line. Ballistic rebounded on Sunday and scored a 5-2 win over the Walnut Creek Revolution. An own goal by the Revolution got the Ballistic started. Norton took a down the middle pass from Aaron Lek and scored. Justin Dorsey followed with a nice shot to make it 3-1 by halftime. Norton’s rocket one into the goal from 19 yard out. Jonathan Ramirez punch one in from a nice pass from Norton to round out the scoring.
Rage U13AC faced the Walnut Creek Stampede Sunday at home in a hard-fought physical game. Keli Wheatley, Rebecca Dumanski, Anjali Rai and Hannah Jackson took shots on goal, but it was Molly Grozier with an assist from Sami Williams who scored the game’s only goal, giving Rage the 1-0 win. Goal keeper Olivia Brown fought hard to protect the goal and Dani Leedeman, Lauren Fan and Marisa Riordan led the defense.
The BUSC U12 Division III Black team continues to build on its winning streak at three in a row by
defeating the Fremont Vipers Saturday at the Sports Park 5-0. The boys came out strong from the opening whistle scoring their initial goal within the first five minutes of play. The pressure continued with a smothering defense and an outstanding passing attack to the outside forwards. Ben Smedley drove the ball up the right side several times deep into the opponents box, ending the drive with a strong cross shot to one of his teammates poised and waiting in front of the Vipers’ goal. One of his crosses was played successfully by his teammate for a BUSC goal. Ryan Vicencio led both teams in scoring with a personal best of three goals spread out over both halves. His success came as a result of great teamwork, pinpoint passing and a tenacious drive to succeed. Assists were made by Andrew Griehshammer, Ben Smedley, Brian Kinnee, Brad Pilkington and Mason Picone. Six additional BUSC players executed shots against the opponents goal creating an offensive attack differential of 22 shots on goal to the Vipers’ 1. Brendan Gold finished off the scoring attack with the teams fifth and final goal. The Black defensive play was just as strong throughout the course of the game, led by Griehshammer with four clears and Alex Lee with two, stopping or reversing the point of attack by the Fremont team.
The Rage 18U Division 2 U19 improved their league record to 5-0 with a pair of wins over Marin FC and Walnut Creek Rampage. On Saturday, Rage had a hard-fought battle with Marin coming out on top 4-2. Marin jumped out to a quick lead, but Rage tied it on a goal by Tiffany Leung. Just before the half Krista Bormann gave the Rage the lead with her first goal of the year. Leung and Katelyn Golik added goals in the second half to secure the victory. On Sunday the Rage recorded its fourth shutout with a 3-0 win over Walnut Creek. Katelyn Golik got the scoring going on a nice crossing pass and assist from Claire Kennedy. Toni Gonis got her first goal of the year on an nice assist from Ailsa Smith. Smith scored the final goal on a breakawsy.
Paced by the play of backup quarterback Logan Finley, the PJFL Senior Seahawks were able to grab their second straight win, rallying for a 12-8 win over the Saints in Pleasanton Junior Football League Senior play.
After giving up a big play in the second quarter, staking the Saints
to a 8-0 lead, the Seahawks defense shut down their opponents the rest of the way out. Parker Dalton, Grant Sherrod and Dylan Isquirdo all had big efforts in hold the Saints to the lone score. Lineman Mike Harris, Brandon Car-Lee and Sean Flynn stuffed the middle, with defense ends James Frair and Alex Jadar turning everything back inside. Defensive back Nick Mendonca, K.C. Chisim and Eli Karlson(who made his first interception) also were solid throughout. The offensive line of Kevin Miller, Tyler Rains, Grant Soyka, Ryan Walsh, Nate Vickers, Harrison Heiser and Ushman Kahn overcome a slow start to open some big holes for the Hawks backs. Cale Rubinson and Raymomd Bartolomucci scored the touchdowns for the Seahawks.
It was Rage against Rage last weekend as the U13 Division 3A Orange team faced off against the White team in what would prove to be a fight till the end. The Orange team got off to a slow start, and the White team was there to take full advantage. Fortunately, the Orange defense led by Cassie Santana, Kayla Cerri and Claire Hickle was able to deny all White advances, keeping the game at 0-0 at the half. The Orange team began to rally in the second half. Midfielders Patti Norcross, Ali Racer and Ariel Gershman demonstrated great ball possession and movement down the field. Rage Orange had multiple shots on goal by Sara Ryan, Paige Peterson and Nikki Cerri, but the White goalie did an amazing job preventing any and all goals. In the end, the Orange team was not able to capitalize on their scoring opportunities and the game ended in a scoreless tie.
On Saturday in Danville, the Ballistic United U-16 team beat local rival, the Mustang Red XI, 3-2. United took only two minutes to score the game’s first goal. Jamie Somerville slotted a pass to Gustavo Rivera, who found the back of the net after beating Mustang’s keeper. Five minutes later, Zac Arellano connected on a shot that grazed the crossbar. A Mustangs forward tied the game, 1-1, by intercepting a soft pass from United?s keeper Adam Bailey. In the 25th minute, Rivera passed to Zac Savoy, who beat the defender and Mustang’s goalie to put United back in the lead. Four minutes later, Savoy fired another shot that hit the crossbar, but did not score. Accustomed to grass, the United players took some time to adjust to the fast, artificial turf pitch. James Metz, Parker Quesinberry and Brandon Krumbach were able to adjust, and control the midfield, ensuring the half-time score remained 2-1. In the 45th minute, Mustang tied the game, 2-2, with a well struck, long range shot. Mustang’s team
members increased the pressure on United as they looked for another goal, but United defenders Zacharias Laranang, Wesley Ostrowki, Sam Fox and Evan Larsen kept them from achieving their objective. The game turned around in the 56th minute when Stefan Agustsson took a shot that was blocked by a Mustang defender on the goal line. Taking advantage, Joey Pereira made a pass back to Eddie Schoennagel, who was entering the field of play after taking a corner. Schoennagel put the ball into the penalty area, where Ryan Cox made a perfect header to give United the 3-2 win.
Pleasanton Rage U15 Division 3 Orange improved their record to 3-1 with a 4-2 win over Danville’s Xtreme early Saturday morning. The first goal was scored by Katey Cloonan in the 25th minute. Many strong defensive plays were demonstrated by Autumn Whitney, Molly Rowse and Kristen Dumanski. Arielle Siegel scored two goals, one with an assist by Danielle Homan. Kara Matsune also contributed with one goal.
BUSC U12 Division III Black continues its undefeated season in the Al Caffodio Youth Soccer League by defeating Dublin Rapid Fire 4-0. The teams record is now 4-0 with an average goals scored per game of 4.5 while only giving up an average of .5 goals to their opponents. The BUSC Club strategy of maximizing ball control is paying off. In the Dublin game, goals were credited to Jared Siegel with three and Ben Smedley with one. The assist for one of Jared Siegel’s goals came from an outstanding physical effort by Roberto Beard who raced to the left corner of the goal, dove parallel to the ground, spearing the ball with a perfect header for an easy touch by Jared Siegel to the back of the net. Well executed assists also came from Mason Picone with two, Brad Pilkington and Ben Smedley with one apiece. Brian Kinnee and Ben Smedley anchored the right side offensive attack and were relentless in their drive up the field as they contributed with two shots on goal each. The defense continued its impenetrable force by intercepting passes, disrupting the flow of an opponent’s attack and turning the ball back up field. Matthew Teng led the charge with 4 takeaways with Jack Geasa, Chris Goldhawk, Andrew Griehshammer, Joshua Cole, Ryan Vicencio and Alex Lee all contributing in the swarming coverage. Dublin slipped through the BUSC defense in the first half and was racing to the goal when Sam Hansen, from the opposite side of the field, turned on his speed and intercepted the opponent, breaking up their scoring opportunity and maintain the shutout.
BUSC Division 4 highlights
Under 10–The Admirals played another exciting game beating the Aces 9 to 1. In the first half, Paul Meyere scored two goals in the first 5 minutes of the game, and then turned a corner kick into a third. Dhruv Pradhan also scored three goals, followed by two goals by Graham Catudal and an exciting steal away goal by Maxamillian Kim. A fun and high energy game to watch by the Admirals.
Scores: Admirals 9, Aces 1
Under 12–Jake Molz scored the only goal for the Raiders in a hard fought, very evenly matched game against the Rush.The Raiders also stood up to their name with six goals against the Raptors. Chris Rydman turned a corner kick into a goal and then minutes later scored another goal to get the game started. Other goals were scored by Teagan Bowman, Bryan Collins, Luis Garcia and Dylan French. Scores: Raiders 1, Rush 0; Raptors 0, Raiders 6; Rampage 4, Richochet 0; Ravens 0, Rampage 5
Under 14–Many shots made on both goals, but no scoring in the battle between the Pack and the Panthers. Scores: Pack 0, Panthers 0:
Rage Division 4 highlights:
U6–It was only the third game for the Dynamites, but it looked as if they had been playing together for years. Emily made the game exciting with her determination to score goals. Olivia also sparkled on Offense and was even named player of the game. Equally as impressive was the Dynamite Defense. Gianna and Kyrah thrilled the crowd with their control of the ball and ability to get it moving back in the right direction. The girls brought smiles to the faces of their fans with their cheers on the sidelines for their teammates and their enthusiasm for the game.
U7–The Tornados’ second game of the season was played against the Tinkerbells. The Tornados’ offensive players were on fire, with Lily Manos scoring four goals, and DeLaney Soble and Savana Sadler scoring 1 goal each.
U8–The Monarchs rebounded from last’s week game with great offensive plays and goal stopping attempts. Haley kept her feet grounded and scored several goals. There was also contributions by other teammates, Hannah, Tesia, and Isabel. Great defensive stops and efforts by the goalies Rochelle and Emma along with defenders Ashley, Katie, Hailey and Stephanie. It was fantastic teamwork at its best.
U12–A very exciting game for both teams, goals back and forth! Gabriella has a great game as goalie. Daniella has a fabulous game scoring 2 goals. Maria scored 1 goal and Reese also scored a great goal. Carlie scored a 1st time ever goal, but was called back due to off sides. The final goal that decided the tie was a penalty kick awarded to the Strikers. Scores: Strikers 4, Elemonators 4:
U14–Both of United’s goals made by Linsey Cole. A hard fought defensive game ending in a tie.
Scores: United 2, Aftershock 2:Powerage 1, Cuties 1:
