Minors Championship game.
The teams arrived at the fi eld
for their afternoon championship
game, it was cold and
the sky was dim. The beaten
fi eld had seen an intense season,
damp from the tears and
sweat of the so many that battled
there before, today was
it’s last game. Although Team
Global had beaten Brewski’s
twice this season, they knew
something was different today,
they could feel that this
was going to be a different
type of game. Their instincts
were correct. The game began
with heart stopping and intensity
and didn’t let up, even for
a moment. With only 15 minutes
left in the game, Richie
Guanieri landed a perfect
pass to Irvin Ruiz who took a
shot on goal just missing the
top crossbar. But Brewski’s
answered back quickly with a
lone breakaway, it seemed as
if the game was coming to an
end, but goalie Connor Guanieri
decided rather than guard
the shot, he attacked the ball
and succeeded with a last
minute diving stop. Moments
later, the whistle blew. Regulation
time ended, the scored
stood at 0 - 0, it was time for
overtime. The team grabbed
water and discussed strategy.
They knew they had to score
soon, but Frankie Mosca, one
of their lead scorers of the season
requested to stay back on
defense. He said - “Coach, let
me stay back on defense, this
game is too close, we can’t let
them score!” And they didn’t,
thanks to the outstanding
defense and midfi elders especially
Lauren Esposito,
Grace Abraham, Sean Keily,
Ethan Hurtado, Mallory Ventola,
Richie Guarnieri and
Nikolas Maldonado. And although
Global had stopped
them, they had also not put
one away on offense either -
the whistle blew, 0 - 0 again.
The league offi cials, refs and
coaches all met in the middle
of the fi eld for a discussion of
what happens next in this unprecedented
event. It would
all come down to a shoot out!
With 5 players from each
team to take penalty kicks,
whoever scores more would
take the victory. In a team
meeting, Irvin Ruiz revealed
that he was an all-star goalie
for multiple travel leagues
throughout his career, and
would be happy to step in for
this intense moment. But
that decision would be on
rookie Connor Guanieri, who
has played the position the
whole year, we asked if he
wanted to pass the torch, but
he responded - “I want this”.
The team cheered and stood
by their teammate. The two
teams lined up, the sidelines
fi lled with parents and spectators
frozen in fear (and because
of the cold). Brewski’s
went fi rst, and Connor made
a diving save. Next up, one of
Global Containers strongest
shooters, Richie Guanieri,
who hit a bullet to the bottom
right but Brewski’s answered
back with a diving save of
their own. And again Connor
makes a stop on Brewski’s
next shooter. Lauren Esposito
fi res a rocket to the middle
right, but its stopped again!
Still 0 - 0, Ryan Keily steps
up, he knows that a goal here
would put them in great position,
so he ran to the ball looking
as if he was going to shoot
right but smashes a dart to
the bottom left and scores a
HUGE goal for Global. Brewski’s
then fi res a ball just outside
the post, relieving some
pressure from Connor just for
a moment. Irvin Ruiz blasted
a perfectly high and left goal
giving Global the 2 - 0 advantage.
With only 2 shooters
left it all comes down to Connor,
one more save could end
the game. The fi nal shot of
the game blasted to the right,
where Connor threw his body
in front of it for a championship
save. The team erupted
into cheers, taking home the
victory with an undefeated
season. Team MVP was
awarded to Frankie Mosca
and the coaches award went
to Lauren Esposito. Coaches
Mark Keily and Frank Mosca
gave a speech of how proud
they were of their team and
how each child played an important
roll in making this a
championship season.
BOYS MAJORS
FINALS
In the last game of the
2019 season,Bronxville Auto
met up against Stan’s Sports
Bar in a morning matinee on
Sunday, November 17. Bronxville
needed to win this game
to assure a fi rst place positioning
at the end of the season.
Bronxville’s offensive
front were led by Aaron Diaz,
Darin Jurado, Jayden Piparo,
Brian Jurado, Matteo Marrone
and Giuseppe Mineiro.
It was a close game where
both defenses where committed
on not allowing a score.
Bronxville’s striker Giuseppe
Mineiro opened up the score
with a solid kick to the left
post. After Stan’s Sport
Bar scored two quick goals,
Striker Giuseppe Mineiro
scored his second goal with
an assist from Darin Jurado.
This tied the game by a score
of 2-2. Both offenses were aggressive
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, N 68 OVEMBER 17-28, 2019 BTR
and Bronxville took
advantage of a couple of miscues
which striker Darin Jurado
scored with a solid shot
to the right post and made it
a 3-2 game. Both teams kept
being aggressive on the offensive
side and midfi elder Max
Wiehler scored with a solid
shot over the goalies’ reach
and made the score 4-2. Defensively,
Solomon Smith,
Christopher Flanagan,Ernest
Beam, Frankie Monti and
Dylan Almestica secured
the defensive side of the fi eld
for Bronxville Auto. Midfi
elders Finn Wiehler, Max
Wiehler, Daniel Lopez, Mario
Noka,and Nicholas Bulla
pressured and assisted the defense
in controlling the Spellman
offensive front. Goalie
Geo Rodriguez made several
stops throughout the second
half and secured a solid 4-2
win. The win gave Bronxville
the Division lead and
a notch at the fi rst place trophy
for the 2019 season. Great
game....great action from both
teams. Coach is very proud of
this team ...we did not let injuries
stop us from reaching
our goal. Coach Ruben and
Coach Jaime were happy with
everyone’s participation and
honored that sentiment by
providing Striker Max Wiehler
with the Coach’s Award
for 2019 and Goalie Geo Rodriguez
with the MVP Award
for 2019 season respectively.
TEAM...WE DID IT!!!.now
Coach is looking forward to
the All Star game and the indoor
tournament..Great Season
everyone.Thank You for
all of your support!!!! Coach
Ruben.
GIRLS MAJORS
The last outdoor week of
the season was a cold one.
The girls fought the cold and
came out to play the last game
of the year. All Time Detection
lost Isabella Vento and
Lauren Kenny to season ending
injuries. We hope they get
well soon. Also not feeling
well this week was Mathilda
Hischhorn who played well
in the last two games. Sofi a
Miles and Victoria Gulliano
played another inspired game
and kept the ball moving.
Tori Anderson once again
was all over the fi eld and
played another great game.
Cecelia Porter who started
playing goalie this season
kept the ball out of the net on
all shots but one including
a penalty shot which sailed
over the net. Catrina Porter,
Kaitlyn Tague and Kylie
VTCNY Competes in the USATF
and Track and Field Fiesta
Velocity Track Vlub New York Athletes
Archambault played great
defense and moved the ball
away from the net on many
chances, keeping the score
at 1-0. Chata Kone normally
a defensive player, moved up
and looked good playing an
offensive role. She can really
handle the ball! Adriana
Leone had a few chances
and just missed a short side
shot that would have put All
Time Detection ahead in the
2nd half. Danielle Brown, the
MVP of All Time with 7 goals
this year blasted a shot from
the 18, past the Michael Anthony
goalie, to tie the game
half way through the 2nd
half. Both teams played well
giving an end to the season
with a tie.
AFC Rapid Soccer
Final Week
from Page 67
COACH WINSTON DINKINS
On Sunday, November
10th, VTC (Velocity Track
Club) competed in the
USATF New York District
Championship / USATF
Region 1 qualifi er. There
were approximately 517
athletes competing for the
opportunity to advance to
the XC Region 1 Championship,
which will be held
at Sunken Meadow State
Park, NY on Sunday, November
24th.
The top 30 individuals
and top 5 teams in each
age group will advance
to the Region Championship.
USATF Junior Olympic
medals were awarded
to the top 30 individuals in
each age division. USATF
knit hats were awarded to
the top 10 athletes in each
division and the 8 declared
scoring members of the
winning teams. The top
three teams in each age
group will receive travel
grants to attend the national
championships in
Wisconsin. 1st place team
$250, 2nd place $150 and 3rd
place gets $100.
VTC (Velocity Track
Club) had two athletes earn
hats (Justyce Moore & Adeyemi
Senior), 14 athletes
earned medals ) Justyce,
Ethan Lee, Ryann Joseph,
Adeyemi, Christopher Cunningham,
Saniah Caldwell,
Candice Palmer, Kenese
Irish-Bramble, Pierce
Parker, Sachin Ramharak,
Adonija Washington, Tiarra
Jackson, Messiah
Jean, and Julian Caldwell.
Plus, two more qualifi ed
for the Region 1 Championship
as part of the team.
The 11/12 Girls of Saniah,
Kenese, Candice, Rakae
Thomas & Sania Grant took
5th place in their division
and qualifi ed for the Region
1 Championship. Congratulation
to all and Good
Luck at the Region Meet.
On Sunday, November
17th VTC competed in
our indoor season opener
at the Track and Field Fiesta
at the Lovely Ocean
Breeze Athletic Complex
in Staten Island. This meet
hosted schools and club
teams from throughout the
tri-state area. The following
events were contested:
Long jump, high jump, shot
put, triple jump, 55-meter
hurdles, 800, 400, 55- and
200-meters races. 4x200 &
4x400 meters relays. Medals
were awarded to the top
fi ve athletes in their event
/ gender. If this is a sign of
how we will do this season,
we couldn’t ask for a better
performance. VTC won 59
medals (30 Gold, 19 Silver,
three Bronze, and seven
Fifth place medals). Congratulation
to All.
Our next meet will be
on Sunday, November 24th,
the 2019 USATF Region
1 Championship. Come
out and watch your future
Olympians.
/IT!!!.no