Randolph Memorial Day Tournament - May 26 & 27
Click here for results of the Randolph Memorial Day Tournament:
The Ravens headed into the Memorial Day Tourney as defending champions. However, this year the team was placed in the top flight, and unfortunately, a number of team member conflicts resulted in the Ravens having a short squad.
Game 1: Wallkill Valley Inferno 4 Ravens 1 - The strong Wallkill side took command with goals in the 9th and 16th minutes. But the Ravens were putting up a good fight, and Kristen Randolph had a beatutiful long range shot (35 yards out) sail over the keeper’s head into the net to make it interesting. 2-1 at the half. But Wallkill got goals in the 37th and 41st minutes to seal the victory.
Game 2: Randolph Storm 2 Ravens 0 - Randolph got one goal in each half (15th and 36th minutes), and the Ravens starting feeling the effects a long hot day, and only one sub.
Game 3: Mahwah Raiders 1 Ravens 0 - On the first game of the second day, the Ravens came out with a strong effort. Overall, the Ravens had the run of the play for most of the 50 minutes. However, one short lapse in the 12th minute cost the Ravens the game, as a seemingly harmless throw-in in the Ravens deep defensive third made its way to the net, and a Raider striker easily knocked home the game winner.
Game 4: Larchmont Sound 0 Ravens 1 - This game was vs. the eventual flight winners, and the team the Ravens beat last year to win their championship. In the 43rd minute of a tight and evenly played game, center-mid Sarah Lipinski netted a beautiful shot from 20 yards out that originated from a throw-in. The Ravens were able to hold their heads high as they left the venue, knowing that even though they came up short overall, they were able to prevent a sweep of the flight by Larchmont.
East Windsor - May 12th, 2007
The Ravens made the long trip down to East Windsor on Saturday, May 12th for a two-game, one-day tournament. The team was scheduled to face the tough Long Valley Crush in game one, and then either East Windsor or the North Hunterdon Blast in the consolation, or championship game.
Game 1 - vs. Long Valley Crush (W 2-0)
The Ravens and Crush played to a 1-1 draw just two weeks ago in league play. In what was a hard fought contest, both teams controlled the run of the play for extended periods. However, we knew that Long Valley was a tough draw, and we needed to be sharp, aggressive, and play cleanly for a chance to move on to the championship game.
The Ravens immediately set the tempo, but the Crush’s defense was up to the challenge. The best opportunity of the half occured in the 16 minute, when a Crush forward powered a shot just wide of the Ravens’ net. On any other close chances, goalie Cynthia Abinader was in the right spot at the right time.
With only seconds to go in the half, the Ravens found themselves deep in the Crush’s penalty area. Alex Seldin was able to get to a ball that just slithered away from a defender for a second or two. Seldin was able to get a left foot on the ball, and it slowly .. but surely .. made its way across the line for a 1-0 Ravens’ lead. There wasn’t even time left on the clock for a subsequent kickoff.
In the second half, the Ravens were travelling uphill, on the slightly graded field. That didn’t stop Carly Stagl and Kaitlin Astrella from performing some magic in the 38th minute of the 50 minute game. Stagl managed to keep control of the ball in the corner, and then laid off a back pass to Astrella who was at left middie. Then, Astrella made a perfect shot from about 25 yards out that sailed over the keeper’s head, and hit the back of the net. Now up 2-0, the Ravens just needed to hold off an anticipated late Crush onslaught to the goal. But that never came about, as the girls held up, got the ball upfield when they needed to, and advanced to the championship game with a great 2-0 win!
Game 2 - Championship game vs. North Hunterdon (2-1 shootout winners vs. E. Windsor in Game 1)
North Hunterdon and the Ravens have already met twice during league play. The first game was a 2-2 draw, and then the Ravens put their collective feet on the pedal and won 4-0 going away at North Hunterdon. But, that was then, and this is now. What you did yesterday doesn’t matter. We knew that North Hunterdon was out for revenge, and we needed to be ready.
The Blast came out with all cyclinders clicking. Hardly appearing like 4-0 victims, the Blast commanded the first 12-15 minutes of the game. They were first to the ball ... challenging strong ... and playing very aggressively. The Ravens appeared in a lull, and perhaps a bit too overconfident. They needed a wakeup call, one way or the other.
In the 16th minute, Alina Vitencz and Melissa Piccoli teamed together to control the ball just outside the Blast’s penalty area. The ball was eventually played off to Carly Stagl who took two strong steps toward the goal. Stagl then got off a shot that hit the left upright and landed in the back of the net. Those are the kind of wakeup calls you like, because up till that time, the Blast certainly had the run of the play. But luck was on the Ravens side today. In the 21st minute, a hard Blast shot hit the Ravens’ uppright solidly, and then came back through the penalty area through a mass of players, only to be picked up by a Ravens middie who then cleared the area.
The second half saw much of the same hard play and efforts by both teams. The Ravens were able to get off some good chances going uphill. The Blast had some chances, but goalie Cynthia Abinader was able to come away with her second shutout of the day, and the entire team hoisted their Championship trophies after the game! Parsippany Ravens - 2007 East Windsor Tournament Champions!!
