- Details
- Category: Past Issues
NECONN boys’ U12
split weekend
soccer series
Sept. 17 the NECONN Boys’ U12 soccer team dropped a hard-fought contest to Willington/Ashford/Mansfield (WAM) by the score of 2-4. WAM started strong and got on the board first with two quick goals that NECONN goalie Alexander Frankhouser struggled with as he battled not only the ball but the setting sun directly in his eyes. NECONN was able to counter with one goal of its own when David Redfield played a pretty give-and-go with Sam Paul. David was able to hit the lower left corner to cut the deficit to one. Just before the first-half whistle, though, WAM notched their third goal of the game to take a 3-1 lead going into the half. In the second half, WAM increased its lead when Frankhouse made the initial save on a hard blast to the corner, but a WAM attacker was in the right spot at the right time and knocked in the rebound. NECONN did not throw in the towel, though, for just a minute later Redfield sent a nice through ball on to Ryan Black who buried the ball in the near corner. Frankhouser would go on to make a penalty kick save late in the game, but ultimately WAM proved to be the stronger team and took home the 4-2 victory.
Sept. 19, at a home contest against Ellington, NECONN found its scoring touch and bested Ellington by the score of 5-2. Fifteen minutes into the game, David Redfield took a diagonal pass from Sam Paul and one-timed it into lower corner for NECONN’s first goal of the game. Two minutes later, Ryan Black slotted a great ball to Adam Trudeau who also one-timed it past the sprawled Ellington keeper to put NECONN up 2-0. Momentum then swung to Ellington’s side of the field as they scored two, quick goals, one on a corner kick and the other on a penalty kick, to tie the game at 2-2 going into the half. In the second half, it was all NECONN as Sam Paul took the team on his back and recorded two unassisted goals in a matter of two minutes to give NECONN a lead they would not relinquish. To finish off the scoring, Cal Wilcox took a run into the box on a Ryan Black corner kick and deflected the arcing ball into the back of the net to make the final score 5-2. Recognition goes to Alec Nystrom for his tremendous play and long throw-ins, to William Liscomb and Connor Fillmore for their stingy defense, to Elijah Dufour and Chris Walker for creating instant offense, and to Max Paro for playing every position but goalie today to give the team quality play wherever they needed it. NECONN takes its 1-2 record on the road to Coventry Sept. 25 and return home on Sept. 26 to face Marlborough.