April 18, 2010:  Blaze sweatshirts are cool.  Fireballs sweatshirts may be even cooler!!  Check this out:

April 2009:  Big Sisters Meet Fireballs, Enjoy Watching 5-0 Win

This time, it was to say hello to their newly adopted team, the U-10 Fireballs who were opening their season against Readington.  The teams got to meet one another at halftime, and the Fireballs treated the cheering Blaze squad to a spectacular 5-0 win! For more, see Hillsborough Beacon. 

The Blaze have enjoyed great success in past years in tournaments. And, win or lose, the girls simply enjoy tournaments to their fullest.  U-15 is a new twist for the girls, as there is no Fall season.  The girls mixed it up on their high school teams.  Now, the Blaze is back looking to defend their Final Four appearance in the New Jersey Cup, and at the same time compete in the NJYSA State Cup.  The Blaze will compete in some of their favorite spring tournaments.  In addition, the girls have reached the age at which they can begin to compete in College Showcase Tournaments.

NEW JERSEY CUP

Rancocas Valley Lightning 3 - Blaze 1.  Soccer almost shouldn't be played so early as this in the season!  The team barely finished their winter sports, and were flung out onto the field after just one practice.  A close game at 1-1 turned into a 3-1 loss as the Lightning used a bigger bench to overcome the early season lack of soccer conditioning.

The Hillsborough Blaze U15 Girls soccer team compete in the Premiere Division of the Jersey Area Girls Soccer League (JAGS) this year  The seven game schedule includes opponents we've had the pleasure of playing several times before.

Blaze 0 - Staten Island Fury 0.  In a hard fought rematch of a nearly identical game two years ago, the Blaze travelled into New York City to earn a draw against the Staten Island Fury.  The team kept the ball in the offensive side of midfield most of the game, but could not put it in the net.  On the other side, the defense allowed few shots on keeper Katerina Albanese.  All shots were easily handled by our keeper.

Logan Charge 4 - Blaze 0.  A 90 minute ride to the deep south of New Jersey didn't seem to go over well for the Blaze today.  The team played a sluggish game, as Logan evened the lifetime series between these squads at 2 wins apiece.

Hockessin, DE Spring Classic

To get the Spring started, the girls trekked down to Delaware on Saturday, March 28 to compete in the Hockessin Spring Classic.  One of the most popular sayings on the Blaze is, "better to play well and lose than to play poorly and win."  Unfortunately, the winter cobwebs clearly had not been shaken off, as the team played poorly.  They tied the host team, Hockessin Freedom, 0-0 in the opener.  They then had command of the game against the eventual tournament Champion, Wall SC Lightning, but gave up two goals in the last five minutes to lose 3-2.  And finally, they generated no offensive pressure and paid for defensive lapses in a 2-0 loss to SJ Elite Force.  The results were disappointing, but the team is resilient and left  "The First State" determined to get their act together.  See below, for example, Round Two of the New Jersey Cup which was played the very next day.

NEW JERSEY CUP

For our US Club roster, there's also the fun of playing the New Jersey Cup, which is held each Spring. This is a single elimination tournament. 

ROUND ONE:  The Blaze were awarded a first round bye.  

ROUND TWO: The second round game was against the Marlboro Blue Sparks on March 29th in Hillsborough.  The word of the day was EFFORT, and the girls arrived ready to give the best effort they could.  Two minutes into the game, it began to look easy as Abby Seel dropped a throw-in right at Alyssa Giarrusso's feet along the left side of the field.  Giarrusso had an opening, and nailed the shot from 25 yards.  But, no more goals were scored by either team for the remaining 58 minutes of play.  Just one goal!

ROUND THREE: On Wednesday evening, May 6th, the Blaze topped US Parma Carmaggio of Springfield by a score of 3-0 to advance to the Final Four of the New Jersey Cup.  Lisa Grohn opened the scoring less than five minutes into the game, and repeated the feat less than five minutes into the second half.  With just 11 minutes left in the game, Alyssa Giarrusso worked the ball into the left corner, cut away from her defender and centered the ball to Andrea Niper standing in front of the goaltender.  Niper muscled the ball through the goaltender's legs for a 3-0 Blaze lead.  Inspired defense and the goalkeeping of Katerina Albanese prevented the swarming US Parma Carmaggio squad from putting the ball into the net.

FINAL FOUR: The quest for the New Jersey Cup came to an end for the Blaze against the Cherry Hill FC Wildcats on a neutral site at Cross Farm Park #10 in Holmdel Saturday May 9th.  Thanks in large part to the brilliant goalkeeping of Katerina Albanese, the two teams tangled through a scoreless tie for 67 of the 70 minutes of the match.  Cherry Hill generated more chances than the Blaze, but were repelled time and again by Albanese's stellar play and a defense that bent but did not break.  The Blaze had their opportunities as well, hitting the post twice and having an open net shot go wide.  The Warriors finally snuck a soft shot past the defense and Albanese with just three minutes left in the match.  The Blaze desperately over committed to offense to tie up the game, allowing the Warriors to pick up a second tally with seconds left in the match.

Hopewell Memorial Day Tournament

The Blaze make the short trip down to Hopewell to defend our crown from 2008 and to appear in this Memorial Day tournament for the fourth time.  The team open with a win against Hunterdon United Riptide by a 6-1 score.  The second game was against West Windsor Plainsboro Xtreme and proved to be more difficult with a 3-1 win.  Sunday morning started with a physical 2-0 victory against the Hopewell Valley Heat.  The Finals were played against Rancocas Valley  Lightning who entered the game undefeated and unscored upon.  The Blaze had their chances, but gave up a goal and played with a 1-0 deficit for most of the game.  In the end, the Lightning put in an insurance goal with minutes left, as the lineup changes designed to pump up more offense didn't succeed in time.

Hershey Kicks4Kids Tournament

For the fifth year in a row, the Hillsborough Blaze girls’ soccer team fielded a team at the Kicks 4 Kids charity tournament in Hershey, PA. The Blaze are no stranger to the Hershey playoffs, once losing the Championship in a shootout and twice making it as far as the semi-finals.  It turned out the fifth time was the charm as the Blaze won their first Hershey championship.

Blaze 1  - Monroe-Woodbury (New York) Galaxy 1.  The tournament began on the morning of June 20th in heavy rain with a Group A match against the Monroe-Woodbury Galaxy. The Blaze dominated the first half, with shots on goal registered by Lisa Grohn, Lisa Beck, Tessa Mayhew, Alyssa Giarrusso, Marisa Schwartz, and Katie Grammes. The pressure finally paid off when Ashley Landesman passed the ball to Rachel Chavkin, whose shot deflected off a defender and across the goal-line. In the second half, the Blaze continued to dominate. They nearly increased their lead with a good shot from Katerina Albanese, but the keeper made a terrific save. In the next five minutes, Heather Kuebler and Giarrusso both took shots on goal, but couldn’t score. With four seconds left in the match, the Galaxy caught the defense sleeping and scored to draw the match even. A Kicks 4 Kids tradition has each team pick for their opponent a Most Valuable Player. Giarrusso was awarded the MVP medal for this first match.

Blaze 2  - Loudoun (Virginia) Soccer 94 Black 0.   Midday on the 20th, the Loudoun Soccer 94 Black played for first place in their group. Owing to heavy rains disrupting the tournament, it was an abbreviated 35 minute match. The Blaze dominated all of it. Loudoun’s offense was completely shut down by the Hillsborough defenders: Kuebler, Beck, Lauren Sochacki, and Abby Goodrich. This allowed the Blaze to generate a lot of offense. At the five-minute mark, Sabrina Rodrigues took an excellent shot from 20 yards out that sailed over the keeper to give the Blaze the lead. She scored a few minutes later after her difficult shot hit the far post and the top post, before crossing the goal line. Two minutes later, Giarrusso’s direct kick from 25 yards out was a bit too high. With two minutes left in the match, Chavkin sent a nice cross that reached Mayhew, who headed the ball over the keeper, but it was stopped by a mud puddle just shy of the goal line. The Blaze won 2-0, and Rodrigues’ two goals earned her the MVP.

Blaze 3  - Warrington (Pennsylvania) Lightning 0.   On the morning of June 21st, the Blaze met the Warrington (PA) Lightning in the semifinals. The Blaze dominated the first half but had a hard time scoring. They finally found the back of the net when an excellent cross from Schwartz reached Anchi Numfor, who knocked the ball past the keeper. The Lightning had a chance to draw the match even with a minute left in the half on a direct kick from 20 yards out, but Blaze keeper Albanese made a good save.

Warrington answered the whistle for the second half determined to get back into the match. They nearly succeeded on a breakaway in the eighth minute, but Albanese moved up to make a terrific save. In the 18th minute, the Blaze got the insurance they needed, when Grohn raced up the right side of the field and sent a superb cross to Landesman, who drilled it past the keeper. Grohn repeated her performance with a minute left in the match, this time reaching Chavkin for the score. Grohn was awarded the MVP, and the Blaze were going to the finals.

Blaze 3  - Hershey (Pennsylvania) Wildcats 2.   In their first Hershey tournament four years ago, the Blaze lost a tough 1-0 semifinal match to the Hershey (PA) Wildcats. They avenged that loss and won their first Hershey championship in an exciting 3-2 double-overtime sudden-death victory.

The Wildcats scored in the fourth minute of the match, but the Blaze answered two minutes later when Numfor knocked in an excellent cross from Grohn. The Blaze took command of the game, and soon Giarrusso, Numfor, Mayhew, and Schwartz all registered shots on goal.  But the match remained even at the end of the first half. Four minutes into the second half, Goodrich sent a superb pass up the line to Rodrigues, whose score gave the Blaze the lead. Seven minutes later the Wildcats got their second goal, and most of the remainder of the match consisted of an exhausted Hillsborough squad fighting off Hershey attempts to score the game-winning goal.

While the match ended evenly at the end of regulation time, it appeared the Blaze may not have the energy necessary to hold off the Wildcats during two five-minute overtime periods.

But somewhere in those two minutes of talk before starting overtime, the Blaze team found the inspiration to get it done. For the remainder of the match, game MVP Heather Kuebler and the other Hillsborough defenders, Beck, Sochacki, Goodrich, and Rodrigues, completely frustrated the efforts of the Wildcats to generate offense. Meanwhile, in the first overtime period, Giarrusso registered two shots on goal and Schwartz registered another. In the second period, Giarrusso and Sochacki each had good chances to win the match.

Finally, with just 90 seconds left before the game would be determined by a shoot-out, Giarrusso lofted a superb corner kick across the goal mouth, and Numfor managed to get her foot on it and put it into the goal, to give Hillsborough their first Hershey Kicks 4 Kids championship.

MAPS/CAPS Tournament

One goal per game was the difference here, and yet the Blaze still played the final game with their destiny in their own hands to win thew whole thing. 

In the first game, a power line repair outside Ft Dix caused the team to start with just 9 players.  By the time the girls were up to their full roster of 13, they were down to SoneSoccer 3-0.  The girls battled back and were looking for the game tying goal as time ran out, but ended up with a 3-2 loss.

The second game was a rematch against the Logan Charge.  The Blaze scored less than one minute into the game, and soon jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  Logan Charge picked up their game and mounted a comeback, but the Blaze held on 3-2.

On Sunday morning, the girls squared off against the Jackson Freedom.  They dominated the entire game, except the part where they had to put the ball into the net.  They nursed a 1-0 lead into the final seconds, but gave up a goal and walked away with a disappointing 1-1 tie.

In the finals, the team met their favorite opponents, the Hazlet Finesse.  The Blaze jumped on a 1-0 lead, but gave up a goal with 30 seconds left in the half.  They battled evenly throughout the second half as well, until giving up a goal with minutes left in the game.

Ocean City Beach Blast

This was a one day non-results oriented day on the beach in Ocean City, NJ.  Nevertheless the ten girl squad went undefeated in three games in 6v6 action in the sand.

The girls again competed in three leagues this Spring 2009 season, MSSL, JAGS and Northern Counties (NCSA). 

MSSL

Our MSSL schedule is very competitive, and we host  American Stars and Stripes, Paramus Castoffs, Cherry Hill Freedom and Voorhees Avengers.  We travel to play NJSA 04 Rush and Stroudsburg (PA).  

Cherry Hill FC Freedom 4, Blaze 0.  The Blaze opened the season against the Cherry Hill Freedom in an opening day MSSL match in Hillsborough.  March 8 is very early to be starting a spring season, and the game had the feel of a preseason warmup game.  Coming together for the first time since their championship at the West Deptford tournament last Thanksgiving, the Blaze looked like they had a lot of winter cobwebs in the first half, falling behind by a score of 3-0.  But, the workout began to pay off as they played virtually even with the Freedom in the second half, dropping the final decision by a score of 4-0.

Blaze 2, Paramus Spartans Castoffs 1.  Lots and lots of good solid play today, as the team got by the Paramus Castoffs by a 2-1 score.  Heather Keubler scored in the first half, and Tessa Kettelcamp score in the second.  Paramus had their chances, putting the ball over the crossbar four times.  But as the game progressed, the Blaze asserted more and more control until finally they were virtually playing keep-away in the last ten minutes.  Lots of accolades to the defenders and midfielders for taking the possession away from the Castoffs, and to all players for stepping up and winning the majority of 50/50 balls. The Paramus score came on a mildly disputed goal in the last minute.  Several Fireballs little sisters were in attendance, bringing good luck to the team!

Voorhees SA Avengers 5, Blaze 0.  The Avengers visited Hillsborough on May 16th, and took this game away from the Blaze by a lopsided score of 5-0.

Blaze 3, Stoudsburg United SC (PA) AC 3.  The girls fell behind quickly in this one up in the Poconos on Saturday May 30th.  Stroudsburg scored within 2 minutes of the opening of the game.  Alyssa Giarrusso responded with a direct kick which clanged off the left post and into the net.  Julie DiAlfonso later took a feed up the right side and outran her defender to the goalmouth, putting the Blaze up 2-1 by halftime.  With the ball too often ending up in the middle of the defensive part of the field in the second half, Stroudsburg leapfrogged to a 3-2 lead.  As time ran out, Giarrusso scored the game tying goal off a corner kick, and the game ended 3-3.

American SC Stars and Stripes 4, Blaze 0.  This was a game in which the team had an opportunity to measure its progress from last September's 7-1 drubbing to the present.  While there remains room for improvement, the team played a far superior game in this second meeting of the year. This game appeared far closer than a 4-0 score seemed to indicate.

JAGS

In the schedule for Jersey Area Girls Soccer (JAGS),  we have drawn EIGHT games against many teams we've seen before, including the Marlboro Blue Sparks, SSC Raiders, Freehold United, Manalapan Jaguars and the West Windsor-Plainsboro Xtreme.  Newcomers for us include Marlton Pressure, Logan Charge (they have a great website!) and the Jackson Freedom, (a side trip to Great Adventure perhaps?!!)  

Logan Charge 2, Blaze 0.  The Blaze opened their JAGS season at home, losing to the Logan Charge 2-0.  The Charge played a formation which the Blaze don't usually see,  and much of the game was spent making formation adjustments to compensate.  The Blaze did have many scoring chances in the second half as the changes began to take effect, but could not convert them into goals.

Blaze 3, SSC Raiders 1. This game featured good ball control throughout. Nevertheless, the SSC Raiders took a 1-0 lead off a corner kick just ten minutes into the game.  They held onto that lead despite many scoring opportunities for the Blaze.  Finally, after 62 minutes of soccer, (and just 8 minutes remaining) the Blaze found the back of the net.  Julie DiAlfonso placed the ball onto the left foot of Tessa Kettelkamp, who put the ball by the keeper to draw the score even. With four minutes left in the game, Alyssa Giarrusso put a long feed up the middle to Rachel Chavkin who put the ball in the net.  And with 40 seconds left, Giarrusso drilled a direct kick by the left sideline from 30 yards out, and Kettelkamp put her head onto the ball and directed it into the net.  This brings the lifetime series with SSC to a dead heat, with a record of two wins, two losses and a tie, while each team has scored nine goals.

Marlton Pressure 2, Blaze 0.  It was a hot time down in Marlton, with record setting temperatures dominating the game just when the Blaze end up with only one player on the bench.  Nevertheless, this was a well played game against a team we'd love to see on the pitch again someday. 

Freehold United 2, Blaze 1.  An injured depleted Blaze squad travelled over to Freehold to play the United, a team which has been evenly matched with the Blaze in several previous games.  The closeness of the squads was evident as Tessa Kettelkamp tied up the game with a goal to make the score 1-1.  With just minutes left, though, Freehold scored to take the game.

Blaze 2, Manalapan Jaguars 1.  The Blaze jumped out to an early lead and held on to win the front end of a doubleheader afternoon on the High School turf field. 

Blaze 2, Marlboro Blue Sparks 1.  In an unusual Thursday evening contest, the Blaze and Blue Sparks played for a second time this Spring after the Blaze topped this opponent by the tightest of scores in State Cup play, 1-0, back in March.  This time around, Sabrina Rodrigues started things off with a cross from the right corner to Tessa Kettelkamp in front of the goal.  In a melee, Kettelkamp got off a shot on goal which the goaltender was unable to swat away until after it had crossed the goal line.  In a defensive lapse by the Blaze early in the second half, the Blue Sparks knotted up the score, 1-1. With fifteen minutes left in the match, Lisa Grohn overmatched a defender inside the goalie box, and drew the defender into committing a penalty.  Kristian Wasdick converted the ensuing penalty kick, and the Blaze held on to win 2 - 1.

Blaze 1, Jackson Freedom 1.  In the back end of a doubleheader on Saturday May 16th, the Blaze travelled right past Great Adventure and found themselves in a tough game against the Jackson Freedom.  As it turned out, the team heading north dominated the game.  Jackson went that direction in the first half, and kept up pressure around the Blaze goal the entire half.  Their loan goal, though, came off a wind-aided corner kick which literally bent into the goal.  In the second half, the Blaze kept the pressure around the Freedom goal.  With quick thinking and quick feet, Tessa Kettelkamp reached the ball first in a melee in front of the net and scored to tie the game.

NCSA 

For the Spring, we now switch from Philadelphia Area Girls Soccer (PAGS) to the PREMIERE Division of Northern Counties Soccer Association (NCSA). PAGS is a Fall-only league, and NCSA will be a Spring-only league for us.  This league will provide us with 10 regular season games.  5 home and 5 away.  We are familiar with the Midland Park Ajax whom we've now played four times, but the balance of the schedule will be against four other teams we've never played before.

Montvale Arsenal 4  Blaze 2.  The Blaze opened their NCSA season with an away game on beautiful turf fields in Montvale, NJ. This was a rocky game with many defensive lapses.  However, the team's passing still looked sharp, and on another day the outcome could have been very different.

Blaze 2, RYSA (Oakland) Wildcats 2.  The Blaze opened this game very flat, and could not seem to put their passing game together or effectively mark their opponents.  As a result, the team was down 2-0 by halftime.  After our little sister Fireballs team arrived to support the Blaze, the game turned.  The Blaze scored two second half goals.  Allie Prosinski crossed a ball from left forward over to Katerina Albanese at striker for the first goal.  Abby Seel converted a penalty kick for the second goal.

Blaze 2, Northern Valley (Old Tappan) 2.  Perhaps looking forward to a State Cup game the next day, the Blaze was not firing on all cylinders.  Northern Valley arrived with no substutues and played an inspired game for a team that should have been exhausted by the end of the game.  Lisa Grohn scored twice for the Blaze.

Blaze 0 , Midland Park Ajax 0.  The Ajax is the most familiar team in NCSA to the Blaze, having met them in State Cup, Parsippany Tournament and JAGS play.  It's almost inevitable that two teams who know one another well enough will learn to negate one another's strengths.  The two teams played to a scoreless tie in the back end of a Blaze double header on the High Scool turf field. 

Blaze 4,  Northern Valley (Old Tappan) 4.  Playing into the teeth of strong winds, the Blaze failed to move the ball effectively into scoring position throughout the first half.  Meanwhile, Northern Valley used the wind to their advantage, sending long balls into their offensive zone and creating sudden defensive mismatches.  The Blaze found themselves in a 2-0 hole at halftime.  With the Blaze back on their heels, the mismatches and zone flooding continued in the second half as well, and the Blaze gave up another quick pair of goals and the team fell behind by a 4-0 score.  But there was no quit in this team on this day.  A cross from Anchi Numfor at left forward found Alyssa Giarrusso alone in front of the net for an easy tap in with 25 minutes left in the game.  7 minutes later with 18 minutes left in the game Lauren Wendeborn landed a throw-in at Giarrusso's feet near the right corner.  With two quick cuts, Giarrusso freed herself from her defender and drilled an 18 yard shot into the top right corner to cut the lead in half.  The third goal is almost a complete news article by itself.  With nine minutes left to go,  Wendeborn moved the ball to Giarrusso, who passed it to Lauren Sochacki, who delivered it to Tessa Kettelkamp in the goal mouth, who reloaded the ball out to Allie Prosinski on the left, who delivered the ball forward across the goal mouth to Kettelkamp on the right of the keeper, who again changed direction and placed the ball into the goal near the left post.  And it happened so fast it was like watching a pinball game. Finally, with just one minute left in the match, Numfor delivered a long throw-in into the goalie box.  Many feet got to touch the ball, but the strong leg of Julie DiAlfonso won out and the ball popped up and spun just out of reach of the goalkeeper to tie the game at 4-4.  In the play, the keeper was shaken up, so when play resumed the referee immediately blew his whistle to end the game.

Blaze 2, Montvale Arsenal  1.  Tessa Kettelkamp scored in the first half, and Allie Prosinski scored in the second half to give the Blaze a 2-1 victory over the Arsenal in HIllsborough.

 Blaze 3,  RYSA (Oakland) Wildcats 1.  Rachel Chavkin pushed a leading ball up the middle to Lauren Wendeborn, who raced 35 yards with the ball and then beat the keeper to open the scoring for the Blaze.  The duo later paired up again for the final tally, reversing roles as Wendeborn fed a pass to Chavkin who beat the keeper for the third Blaze goal.  In between, Lauren Sochacki nailed a direct kick.  The Wildcats scored late in the first half, keeping the game tied at 1-1 at halftime before Sochacki and Chavkin put the game away with their second half goals.:

Midland Park Ajax  Rained out TWICE and cancelled.

Dragons United (Westwood) Ten girls braved a complete mudbowl up in Westwood, falling behind 4-0 and failing to complete one of those famous Blaze cardiac kids comebacks by only scoring two goals by Allison Prosinski to fall by a score of 4-2.

Dragons United (Westwood) Rained out TWICE and cancelled.