Club News
3/6/07 Great Stuff
"Jack Hilger and Augusto Silva, teammates on the FC PUMA u13 boys team, participated in an international trip to Portugal from 2/17 - 2/24 for a series of soccer practices and games. 23 members from the 1994 Massachusetts Olympic Development Program (ODP) made the trip which included games in Terceira (Azores), Lisbon and Ana Dia. The team went 3-1-1 during the week. Silva collected 4 goals, 1 assist and Hilger tallied 2 goals, 4 assists of the 1994 team's total 13 goals in 5 games. Notably, Silva had a hat trick in the Ana Dia game where the Mass ODP team won 6 - 1.
The trip was capped off with a final game at the practice field in front of Benfica Stadium in Lisbon against the u13 Benfica professional #2 team where the Massachusetts 1994 boys won 3 - 1. The team was also given a tour of the Benfica Stadium and training facilities. Portugal Pro soccer organized the trip."
1/3/07
Effective January 1st, my term as President of FC PUMA has officially ended. I have notified the Board of Directors that I will not be continuing on as President for an additional two-year term. As the Board makes plans and searches for a new Club President, I have offered to stay on to assist during this transition period until the end of the spring season helping to coordinate activities or until a new Club President is announced. While the past two years have been a considerable amount of work due to the Club’s growth in so many areas, I have enjoyed my time as President and the opportunity to work with the FC PUMA community. I would like to thank all the parents, managers, and coaches who have given their time to improve FC PUMA during my term as President. The dedication of those individuals has strengthened the Club and the overall soccer experience for every player. I wish all FC PUMA players, families, managers, and coaches continued success both for the upcoming spring season and the many seasons that follow.
Bob Kody
GU11 Team wins the Christmas Cup Tournament!
The PUMA GU11 team participated in the Christmas Cup Tournament at the Farmington Sports Arena on 12/27. The team went 2-0-2 in the 4 game round robin, not letting up any goals. The girls got into the championship game by PKs, and won the final game against Western United 1-0.
FC Puma BU13 goes to Indoor Regional Finals and qualifies for the National Tournament.
The FC Puma BU13 team competed in the regional tournament of the National Indoor Championships. The boys made it to the finals which qualified them to attend the National Tournament to be held in Virginia in February.
The team, coached by Christian Battaglia, played well on both days. Marco, Joe and Danny provided the offense, while Andrew and Augosto distributed the ball from midfield. Kurt, Colin, Josh and Michael covered the defense while Brett tended net.
Between games on Saturday the team and families enjoyed lunch at Chilis while taking in the semi-finals of the NCAA division 1 soccer game.The Boys U14 played magnificently all weekend long at the Nashua World Cup Columus Day Tournament and added yet another victory trophy to their long list.
The team ended up champions after scoring 12 goals and allowing only 1 while posting 4 wins and 1 tie. The team did save its best game for last beating previously unbeaten and unscored upon Newington Benfica from CT 6-1. In the semi-final game Puma outplayed and overpowered a spirited FC Utd. team for a 1-0 victory. In round robin pool play the boys defeated Bayside Utd. from RI 2-0, NH Classics 3-0 and tied Western Utd. 0-0. Jose Silva once again proved he is a top Region 1 GK allowing only 1 goal in 5 games. Jose also scored a fantastic goal in the final and assisted on another. Rory Burk showed his class as one of the top premier defenders in MA by anchoring the Puma back 4. Rory scored a great goal in the final and assisted on the game winning goal in the semi-final. Shane Ruffing, Conner Gibbs, Brian Hicks and Matthew Keys played tremendous defense all weekend. Shane Ruffing, comming up from the back,
scored an unbelievable goal to get us going in the NH Classics game. His rocket shot from 25 yds out dipped just under the crossbar. Conner Gibbs, also comming up from the back, scored the winning goal in the semi-final against FC Utd. Conner broke into the box and hammered home a well placed free kick by Rory Burk. New player Brian Hicks has improved each game as he gets more familiar with Puma's smothering defensive tactics. Brian is developing into another excellent Puma defender. Matthew Keys used his size and strength in a dominating weekend performance. Matthew plays alongside Rory Burk in the center of the Puma defense. Matthews physical play and excellent outlet passes where fun to watch. The Puma midfield included Evan Cummins, Keith Danley, Alex Tello, Alex Vozzella, Mike Doran and Tramaine McNeil. Evan Cummins caused problems all weekend for opposing defenses with his great runs and excellent crosses to the middle. Evan was rewarded for his hard work with an excellent goal in the final. Keith Danley once agaiin was dominating as an inside midfielder. Keith is the teams playmaker and he never stops working. Keith got off some great shots this weekend and narrowly missed on a 28yd blast that the keeper just managed to push over the crossbar. Alex Tello, anothe inside midfielder, scored a beautiful goal to get us going against Bayside Utd. and just missed on a number of other opportunities. Alex plaed an excellent final. Alex Vozzella played excellent all weekend as an outside midfielder. Alex, as always, played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm. His hard work was rewarded in the final with a superb goal. Mike Doran and Tramaine McNeil also saw a lot of playing time at outside midfield. Mike and Tramaine were keys to Puma's success this weekend with their hard work and unselfish play. Playing forward most of the weekend were Danny Eder, Brian DaSilva and guest player Zach Hoban. Danny is Puma's fastest and most aggressive player. Danny's work ethic and stamina are second to nobody I have ever coached. He just keeps going and going and going. Danny had numerous near misses this weekend as he gave opposing defenses fits. He was rewarded in the final by scoring a key goal for the team. Bryan DaSilva played mostly forward this weekend. Bryan is among the teams most skillful players and often dazzles with his dribbling skills. Bryan plays with great flair and was rewarded this weekend with 2 beautiful goals. Zach Hobart played mostly forward this weekend subbing in to give Bryan and Danny much needed breaks. His tenacious play was fun to watch.
Coach Teggart
Coach Gibbs
8/23/06
BU14 team goes to Bamdits Cup Finals
The boys U14 team just concluded another successful Tournament losing in the Championship gameto Nationally ranked Gr Boston. The team played 4 games leading up to the final without conceding a goal.
Scores:
MPS 0-0, Stars of Mass 0-0, Puma 1 Nor'easter 0, Puma 1 North Shore 0.
Goals were scored by Rory Burk and Alex Vozzella.
The boys have had a tremendous run the past year and have started off strong once again.
March 2006- Champion - St Patricks Tournament in Virginia.
June 2006 - Champion - Needham Invitational Tournament.
June 2006 - 3rd place u13 Div. 1 MAPLE
June 2006 - Semi Finalist State Cup.
Sept. 2006 - Finalist- Bandits Cup
The 2006-2007 team has 13 returning players from last year and 3 new additions.
Returning Players: Rory Burk, Evan Cummins, Keith Danley, Mike Doran, Bryan DaSilva, Danny Eder, Steve Geller, Conner Gibbs, Tramaine McNeill, Shane Ruffing, Jose Silva, Alex Tello, Luke Brutvan.
New Players: Brian Hicks, Matt Keys, Alex Vozzella
GU14 team goes to T.W.I.S.T. FINALS
The Puma GU14 team participated in The Wallingford Invitational Soccer Tournament (TWIST) during the weekend of Aug. 19-21. After a very competitive round robin, the team finished second in their group and qualified for the Semifinals. Their opponent in the Semifinal game was Northeastern United, a strong Division 1 team from Connecticut that had won their group. Puma came out strong and played a very complete game. The eventual score was 5-2 in favor of Puma. The 5 goals were scored by 4 different players. In the Final, Puma met a very familiar MAPLE Division 1 team, the SF Vikings. Previous matches between the teams were always close and hard-fought. The Vikings controlled most of the first half and went up 1-0 on a converted corner kick. Puma started the second half with great intensity and scored the equalizer to make it 1-1. Puma maintained their intensity throughout the second half, but the Vikings were able to score on a counter attack that put the Vikings ahead for good. The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Vikings. The Puma GU14 team entered the tournament with 7 new players and a new head coach. They left the tournament as a unified team that put together an outstanding effort. Congratulations to the F.C. Puma GU14 players and coaches!
BU14 finishes second at MASC tourney...
The U14 Boys had three stellar games to set them up for a show down with the Aztecs in the final round of the MASC tournament on Sunday, June 4th. In the first game against Eastern Mass Devils, the boys looked like a well oiled machine taking the game 3-1. The second match pitted them against the eventual champions, the Aztecs. The game was 0-0 and went into penalty kicks. The teams traded kicks and Jeff Parrish saved two as it came down to the 9th kicker in sudden death. Kirubel Solomon netted the winner for Puma. The third game set the team for revenge against their only regular season loss, SF Vikings. Puma went down early but rallied back for a 3-1 win, capped by a header goal by Yaw Asante-Bio. The rematch against the Aztecs took place on the lower field in Millis, one the team had not played on at all. The field featured a puddle with about a 10-foot circumfrance and about 5 inches deep. The narrow field and puddle combined to knock Puma off their game as the Aztecs jumped to an early 2-0 lead. Puma never recovered and ended up with the silver medal.
The tournament featured great games by several players. Andrew Maldonado and Ed Wytenus scored the majority of the team's goals. Joc Caldwell played well defensively, shutting down the Vikings star player. Overall, the team showed signs of greatness. They will strive for consistency in their qualifying tournament June 10th and 11th.
6/2/06
Over Memorial Day weekend the U17 girls made it to the semi-finals of the New England Soccer Classic on Cape Cod with a little help from four of there club "sisters" from John Gavin's U14 team.
On Saturday only 8 of the U17 girls could make the game as 8 others were participating in MIAA high school athletic events. John Gavin who's oldest daughter Brittany plays for the U17s offered to bring four (Becky Mongeau, Emily Van Dam, Beth Ledoux, and Mackenzie Gavin) of his U14 players down to the cape on Saturday to help us out.
The four were immediately made captains for the game and were informed (much to their delight) that because they were only there for Saturday they would probably have to play the whole game!
After falling behind the Stoneybrook Stars by one goal the team quickly rallied to score four unanswered goals to win 4-1. Our four guest players preformed admirably, and although they were at times out matched by the size and physical play of the older girls they didn't back down for one minute and fittingly ended the game by combining some nice passes to set up Emily Van Dam's final goal.
On Sunday we had our team back and with fresh legs as we took on the Aztec's (U17 Maple Div.I) and played very even except on one corner kick that ended it in their favor 1-0. Later that evening we played the Crusaders (U17 Maple Div.I), the team played a beautifull game and this time we came out on top 2-1.
Unfortunately for us we were back down to only 13 players on Monday and lost to TVE/Spirit 2-0. We played very even for quite a while but with their 7 subs compared to our two, and the hot weather we ran out of steam.
All in all it was a great weekend of soccer, and great fun for "all the FC Puma girls".
The GU12 team wins the Memorial Day Needham Invitational. The girls went undefeated in all five games against teams from CT, NY, and MA winning 4-0, 3-1, 1-0, 2-0 and 3-2 in shootouts the final game.
Multiple goal scoring came from Amory Fratoni, Maddy McKinley, Kayla Shea and Nycole Simard.
After 60 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime, the final game against SK Vikings (the 5th seed for Maple U12 tournament) had to be decided in penalty shots.
FCPuma claimed victory on penalty shots scored by Emily Bourke, Katelyn Hanam, and Kayla Shea. Goalkeeper Alexis Nystrom saved two during the shootout and also saved two penalty kicks during regulation for a total of 4 stopped penalty shots in one game.....very impressive!
Fantastic defense and offense from the entire team...looking forward to Amherst!
The FC Puma BU13 team wins the Needham Invitational Tournament by beating the current Vermont State Champions and recent Jefferson Cup Champions Synergy FC 1-0 on penalty kicks in the final. The boys 13 bracket had a strong field of teams including 2 state champions in Greater Boston FC and Synergy FC.The team went 3-0 in round robin play beating North Shore Utd. 2-1, Trumbull CT 5-2 and Tri Valley Utd. 2-0. In the Semi Final they defeated Danbury CT 2-0.
With temperatures in the mid eighties, the final game was an epic scoreless battle played thru 60 mins. of regulation, 20 mins.of overtime and eventually decided on penalty kicks. Both teams played excellent disciplined soccer. With end to end action throughout the match, both goalkeepers made superb saves, keeping their teams hopes for victory alive. Bryan DaSilva, Evan Cummings and Keith Danley made Puma's first 3 penalties. Jose Silva, the best u13 keeper on the planetsaved Synergy's third and fourth penalties setting the stage for Jose himself to snatch victory. Silva very calmly slotted the ball pastan outstanding Synergy keeper and sent the Puma players and fans into a frenzy. All of the Puma players contributed greatly to the victory throughout the weekend. Danny Eder, Bryan DaSilva, Tramaine McNeil and Evan Cummins all played outstanding up front with each of them scoring at least one goal. Danny Eder's work rate all weekend was amazing.The midfield was equally as impressive with Keith Danley, Alex Tello, Mike Doran, Akshay Shanker, Brian Goodliffe and Jack Nicholson carrying the load.Keith Danley and Alex Tello also scored nice goals. The always stellar Puma defense led by Rory Burk at Sweeper, Steve Geller at stopper,Luke Brutvan, Conner Gibbs and Shane Ruffing on the outside, once again played outstanding all weekend. Tyler McAfee was injured and could not play.
The boys 13 team is looking forward to another exciting finish to their spring season. Last year the team lost in overtime in the semi-finalof the MAPLE u12 tournament. This year the team has earned a spot in the State Cup semi-final with excellent play in the round robin phase.The team will play Greater Boston in the State semi-final on June 17. Coaches working with the boys 13 are Dave Teggart, Tom McAfee and Steve Gibbs.
GU-11 Puma Team wins Memorial Day Tournament...
FC Puma played Inter Bandits, Sachems FC, Liverpool SC, and NEConn this
past Memorial Day weekend at the John Smith Inter Bandit Tournament.
Puma came out of the blocks strong and well composed all weekend.
Going 4-0 in a 5 team bracket, we poured it on! We scored the maximum recorded (goals for) in each game and gave up zero (goals against) during the tournament. 20-0
Leading the charge was Maddy Ojerholm with 5 goals, followed by many others who enjoyed breaking ice. The wins were a much needed break after a stingy Blue division
experience this spring. Seeded 8th for the Andre Cup, we see this tourney as a nice step towards success this coming weekend at Umass!
FC PUMA GU15 team loses a heart breaker 2-1 on PK’s...
In the final round of State Cup Challenge matches FC PUMA faced off against the Blackhawks. In what can be described as one of the most physical games of the year…. and I don’t mean that in a good way… as the Blackhawks were given 4 yellow cards and numerous other warnings. The first half had PUMA some what on their heals going down 1-0 on a chip shot over our keepers head. Not to be outdone the PUMA girls re-grouped at half time and came out to tie the game at one each with a goal in the first minute of play. For the remainder of the half the PUMA girls turned it up keeping the ball in the offensive end and getting numerous shots on goal. Unfortunately regulation time ended with the score tied 1-1. The two teams then played two 15 minute overtimes with the score still tied at 1-1. With the game now to be decided on PK’s our fate was quickly determined when our first shot hit the post. Final score Blackhawks 2, FC PUMA 1. Overall the PUMA girls played one of their better games of the season!FC PUMA GU15 team defeat MPS Crusaders 1-0 in State Cup match. In the first ever meeting between the GU15 MPS Crusaders who play in the Super Y League and Sub-Region 1 League and the FC PUMA GU15 team which plays in MAPLE it was immediately obvious that both teams came to play. The MPS Crusaders moved the ball well but were obviously frustrated by a superior defensive and counter attacking effort by the PUMA girls. Both teams narrowly missed scoring opportunities only to end regulation time tied at 0-0. Over time saw more of the same play with scoring opportunities for both teams. However, with only 2 minutes left in the second overtime an MPS player pulled one of the PUMA girls down in the box and PUMA was awarded a PK. Erin Haggerty calmly found the back of the net and the game ended with a PUMA 1-0 win. Fantastic job by the PUMA girls who are now off to the next challenge round.
FC PUMA GU15 team defeats Burkshire United 4-0 in State Cup Challenge match. In the first Challenge match of the year for the FC PUMA GU15 team they played a very tough and physical Burkshire United team. PUMA quickly went up 1-0 on a perfectly placed corner kick that was headed to the back of the net. PUMA continued to play very aggressively for the remainder of the first half narrowly missing on a number of opportunities. Before the half was out the girls added two more goals both on direct kicks that sailed over the keeper to make the score 3-0 at the break. The second half saw Berkshire United turn up the heat and put a lot of pressure on the PUMA defense. However, throughout the game the PUMA defense held to preserve the shut out. The final PUMA goal was added on a breakaway that beat the defender and a charging keeper. Great game by ALL the PUMA girls. The team will now move on to Challenge round two.
FC PUMA Players and Parents… This past Sunday Katie Cipriano who plays on John Gavin’s GU14 team was injured quite badly during their game against TVE/Spirit.
Katie was about to score with a header to the net when the defender came flying in and struck Katie just under the right eye and broke what is called the orbital bone. This bone holds the eye in the socket. She was operated on at Boston Children's Hospital Monday morinng. Katie is home now and aside from the usual complications of swelling and some double vision is doing much better. The eye itself suffered no obvious damage and she is expected to make a full recovery.
From everyone in the FC PUMA COMMUNITY we wish Katie the best and hope to see her back on the soccer field soon!
Bob Kody
President FC PUMA
 |
FC PUMA's new WINDFEATHER BANNERS are in! The banner proudly displays the club logo and a large FC PUMA. They are 16' tall and collapse down to 4' for travel and storage. The new banners will be displayed at all Home MAPLE and State Cup games this spring. |
The GU-14 team traveled to the Virginia Beach FC tournament and played
in the U-14 Premier bracket. With 12 teams (4-Va. 4-Ma. 2-NJ and 2-CT
teams this was the largest Premier bracket in the tournament. The U-14's
were in the Premier Bracket 4 with the Morris United Screaming Eagles
(NJ) and the Northeast United (CT), both respective 2005 State Cup round
of 8 teams. With only two games to decide who represents the Bracket in
the semi-final, it was a very competitive set of games. In the first
match, Puma lost 1-0 to NorthEast. Advantage to Northeast in the first
half, but Puma came out on fire and dominated the second half with
several shots on goal including a cross bar rattler by Lauren Papalia
set up nicely on a lay off back pass from Becky Mongeau at the top of
the box. The Puma defense in the second half was stellar as no shots
were fielded on goal.
Both bracket games were allowed to play very physically with the second
game being the tougher one against Morris United. Again Puma got off to
a slow start but turned on the after burners for the second half. The
game started late and by mid way through the second half it was getting
dark and this game was the only game still being played on the 18 field
complex. But it wasn't too dark to see the highlight reel goal of the
tournament as Puma won the ball at mid field and Ashlynn Fratoni took a
few steps forward and to the right and cranked up a laser guided 45 yard
missile that went top shelf to the astonishment of the keeper and the
whole Morris United team. In the end we fell short despite a flurry of
action in the Morris United end for the last 15 minutes of the game. 2-1
Morris United.
With the two losses, Puma had one game left and played the South Coast
Scorpions in the consolation round. South Coast jumped on two set piece
opportunities to score in the first half using the considerable wind and
down hill slope of the Princess Anne Park fields to their advantage.
Great effort by the team through out the game but in the end Scorpions
carried the game. We will see them again soon. Great effort by the team
in one of the most competitive tournaments we have seen in a while.
The U12 girls played very well at the Virginia Beach tournament. They were unstoppable on Saturday winning both games, scoring nine goals and shutting out both teams. The first goal came in the first 4 minutes of the game against FC Granite Wanderers of NH. The girls never relented winning the game 6-0 with five different goal scorers and two off of Amory Fratoni's perfectly served corner kicks.
The second game started with windy conditions and we couldn't put one in the back of the net in the first half. Starting the second half with the wind to our advantage and another Fratoni corner kick, the girls took the lead and never looked back winning against FASA Spiders of VA 3-0. Sunday brought even more wind and the girls started the game against FC Richmond Mystx of VA with the wind against them. Two goals squeaked by in the first and despite many chances in both halves FCPuma couldn't put one in the back of the net and lost 0-2. It was a great weekend overall and the girls look strong heading into the Maple spring season!
GU11 Play in Finals of Virginia Classic Tournament
The girls went 1-1-1 in regulation play earning 4 points, giving up 2 goals throughout tournament play. Their only loss coming to NUTS ( Nashoba United ) who will be playing in the Green U-12 division this Spring! 1-0
The NUTS team forfeited their opportunity to play in the final, leaving the PUMA U-11 team the next in line to play in the FINALS. Going up against FC Richmond ( 2-1 ~ who only allowed 1 goal all tournament ), was going to be a challenge.
Game time saw the weather chilly ( 50 degrees ) with a 20+/- mph breeze blowing downfield from goal to goal. Running with the wind first half, we played a 4-2-4, seeing if we could strike first blood! Our efforts paid off with a back door finish by Lauren Barakian. We played through first half with a 1-0 lead and switched into a 5-4-1 playing against the wind! We held down the fort until 12 minutes left in the game when Richmond uncorked a bomb from 20 yards out that was buried in the top corner.
Into 2 five minute overtimes, we had our chances, but the game was to be decided on PK's.Richmond got it done, beating us 4-2 in PK's ( Megan McKinley and Lauren Barakian finished for Puma, and a stellar keeper effort by Lucy LeBlond ) to end the tourney with a runner-up finish in the final.
The FC PUMA BU14 traveling to the PWSI Tournament opened the weekend in fine fashion, with a 2-0 win over a club from NJ. After an early lead in the second game, we fell to the team from Chantilly, MD. Our Sunday matchup was the undefeated Prince William Courage (the home team). We had our moments but ended up faltering 4-0 and ending the weekend 1-2. The boys improved over last year and looked really good at times. We're really geared up for the 2006 season.
The FC Puma U17 girls had a successful weekend at the Virginia Beach Soccer Tournament. We new it was going to be a tough weekend as we had four games to play and only 13 players to get the job done.
Just how tough it turned out though was kind of a surprise, as teams got frustrated with our level of play the games got very physical with six yellow cards issued over the course of four games (none against us)!
We played Hagerstown SC Freedom 88 (MD) on Saturday morning and won a close one 1-0. In the afternoon we played the Pasippany Thundercats (NJ) and although it was tied 0-0 at the half we new we could beat them. The game was marred by a vicious illegal check (yellow card) that left us with quite a scare as one of our players was down for 15 minuets with a neck injury, but we prevailed winning 4-0.
Sunday mornings 8:00 AM game found us groggy, sore, and bruised for the Cortland Vipers (NYE) game. They scored first which woke us up. We scored two but with 10 minutes to go in the game we hit the wall. Cortland scored and the game ended 2-2.
This left us with seven points which made the final game against Yankee United Heat (nine points) the championship game. We new that this was going to be a tough game as they had out scored the other three teams by a total of 15 to 1! What we didn't know at the time was that they were the Connecticut State Cup Champs in 2001, 2003, and 2004! A formidable opponent. The heat scored first but our girls didn't give up and we scored a beautiful goal with less than a minute to go in the first half to tie it up 1-1. The second half saw the heat score another one but once again our girls came back and tied it 2-2. Only having two subs however was taking its toll and with their deep bench (full 18 roster) and fresh legs they managed two more goals to end it 4-2.
The team was a little disappointed but realized that they had a heck of a good weekend against tough competition and came away with finalist medals.
Way to go girls!
Congratulations to the GU15 team 3-0-1 in Memphis! The GU15 team attended the Blues City Blowout tournament in Memphis TN this past weekend. The weather was great and the team had a lot of fun including a team dinner at the BB King Blues Palace. The tournament was played at the Mike Rose soccer complex which consists of 16 manicured fields all with lights, very nice facility. The girls played a 4 game round robin winning their first three matches convincingly without a goal being scored against them. The final game was against the Lobo’s who were last years tournament champions and are ranked 2nd in Tennessee. As expected the PUMA girls came out very determined, they played a very tough defense limiting the Lobo’s to only a few shots on goal. Our midfield and forwards did a great job of pushing the all up the field and narrowly missed the Lobo’s net on more than one occasion. The end score was a 0-0 tie. For the tournament the girls went 3-0-1 fantastic start to the spring season!