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UWS East Conference Weekend Wrap-up

07/11/2016, 9:15pm EDT
By Admin

Copa capture 2016 East title; Inferno offense on fire

TSF ACADEMY VALKYRIES 6, NEW YORK MAGIC 4

WAYNE, NJ - After tough defeats on Saturday, both the TSF Academy Valkyries and New York Magic were probably hoping for a bit of respite on Sunday afternoon at DePaul Catholic High School. Instead, both teams participated in a spirited goalfest that the Valkyries (2-3-2) would emerge victorious from in the 6-4 win. Stephanie Scholz would net a hat-trick for TSF. The Magic (0-6-1) would have to once again make the trip home with a defeat, and an especially hard one as they scored the first two goals of this match.

Sara Sanau-Ruiz put New York ahead with two unassisted tallies in the 21st and 26th minutes of the match. TSF would awaken from their early-match slumber right after the Magic’s second goal and score three unanswered goals to end the first half. Scholz put the home side on the scoreboard in the 29th minute while Meghan Griffin and Gladys Loyas followed that up with goals in the 36th and 39th minutes, respectively. Defender Alana O’Neill assisted on Griffin’s goal - her first of the season. While Sanau-Ruiz led the New York offense in the first half, Shani Abrahams would step in after halftime.

Abrahams notched her fourth goal of the season just five minutes into the second half. But, TSF would respond and scored the next two goals. Jen Andresen assisted on Loyas’ second goal of the game in the 59th minute and than Loyas would become provider for Scholz’ second goal in the 73rd minute for the 5-3 score in favor of the home side. Abrahams would net her team-leading fifth goal just four minutes later to once again bring the Magic back in the game. Yet, Scholz would put the final stamp on the win in the 80th minute. Bjonda Ademi (one save) got the win, sharing time in net with Caitlin Hoffer for TSF while Samantha Depken made seven saves for New York.

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LONG ISLAND ROUGH RIDERS 1, NEW ENGLAND MUTINY 2

SOUTH HUNTINGTON, NY - The New England Mutiny were victorious in their final regular season road game of the year, as they defeated the Long Island Rough Riders by a 2-1 score on a 90th minute goal from veteran forward Deb Nelson. But in the end, the Mutiny (5-3) lost when it came to their ultimate goal, as the game against the Rough Riders (3-3-2) at Cy Donnelly Stadium was truly their last road game of 2016. New Jersey Copa F.C. (7-1-1) won earlier on Saturday afternoon and clinched the UWS East title and berth into the UWS National Final the weekend of July 30-31.

New England will host the East champions this Saturday night at West Springfield High School (7:00 PM) and will look to avenge their 2-1 loss to Copa on June 25th. Long Island started the match on the front foot and notched their only goal of the match in the 13th minute. After a well-worked corner kick routine on the left flank, Erin Neville drove in a cross that Alexa Schneider headed home in the center of the penalty area. Late in the half, the Mutiny’s Kate Howarth would set up the game-tying goal in the 44th minute.

Brianna Kenney broke the right flank off a Howarth pass, and served a cross to the top of the 6-yard box. Chantelle Swaby made a run from the left flank, got inside her defender and touched home the cross inside the far post for the 1-1 score. As time ticked away in the second half, Jessica Miller sent Howarth in on goal off the right flank and the team captain dribbled into the penalty area. Her pass to the top of the box found Nelson who one-timed her shot inside the far post past Rough Riders goalkeeper Melissa Guglielmo (three saves) in the 90th minute. Mutiny keeper Annie Ulliac made four saves in net as both teams had five shots on goal.

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NEW YORK MAGIC 2, NEW JERSEY COPA F.C. 7

NEW ROCHELLE, NY - New Jersey Copa F.C. put an exclamation mark on its remarkable inaugural season in the East Conference, capturing the conference title and along with it a berth in the UWS National Final with a dominant 7-2 rout of the New York Magic on Saturday afternoon at Mazzella Field. League-leading scorer Krystyna Freda (13 goals, 28 points) put a stamp on the victory for Copa with her four goals and an assist - good for the top single-game scoring mark in the young history of the new national pro-am league.

With the game knotted at 1-1 in the 10th minute after both sides scored their opening goals in a span of a little over a minute, Freda exploded as she netted the second, fourth, fifth and seventh goals for NJCFC. She was involved in all three second half tallies, scoring twice while assisting on Alexis Williams’ goal. Defender Monique Goncalves netted the first goal and assisted on both of Freda’s first half tallies while playing a major role in a defensive unit that limited the Magic to just two shots on frame.

Eboni Birch tied the game in the 10th minute for New York after Goncalves initially put Copa on the board. Jeanine Nunez (third in UWS scoring) collected her sixth goal of the season in the 17th minute for what proved to be the game-winner. Midfielder Jackie Bruno assisted on the game’s first goal while defender Callie Duliba contributed to Nunez’ game-winner. Sara Sanau-Ruiz collected a goal in the 66th minute to cut the deficit in half to 4-2 before NJCFC unleashed three goals in the final seven minutes of play. After making 10 saves in the first meeting of the season, Magic keeper Samantha Depken was busy again, stopping six of the 13 shots on goal.

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LANCASTER INFERNO 6, TSF ACADEMY VALKYRIES 1

LANCASTER, PA - The Lancaster Inferno ended their 2016 home slate in the UWS East in style, playing at Clipper Magazine Stadium (home of an independent baseball team & the USL Harrisburg City Islanders) and hammering the TSF Academy Valkyries by a 6-1 score. Lancaster (4-4) were led by Amy Rieker’s goal and an assist with four different Inferno players chipping in on their highest goal total of the season. Even though the team is out of the race for the East title, they can still catch the New England Mutiny for second-place in the conference as both teams have two games remaining.

Lancaster opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Rieker drove into the box from the left flank and fired a tight-angled shot past TSF Academy goalkeeper Caitlin Hoffer (eight saves) into the side netting. Veteran midfielder Teresa Rynier made the score 2-0 in the 18th minute off an assist from Rieker. In the 32nd minute, the Valkyries cut the score in half as Jen Andresen beat Inferno keeper Emily Dolan (two saves, subbed at halftime) with a shot in the upper right corner. Lancaster would go up 3-1 just before halftime, as defender Carol Sanchez stepped up and fired home a penalty kick.

Both teams would have to deal with torrential downpours for a period of time in the second half, and the Inferno offense would continue to rain on the TSF defense as well. Bailey Corbin scored in the 50th minute, while Natalia Pinkney added a pair of goals in injury time. To cap off a successful day at Clipper Magazine Stadium, Lancaster used this opportunity to once again promote awareness of Tony Forte’s fight with Hirschsprung’s Disease and the “The Antonio Forte Transplant Fund Trust.”

About United Women’s Soccer (UWS): UWS is a national women’s soccer league sanctioned by U.S. Soccer through the United States Adult Soccer Association (USASA). UWS is a professionally operated league created for teams that meet high minimum standards. The season runs from May until the end of July, culminating in a National Championship match. The UWS player pool is comprised of college players, aspiring & former professionals and international stars. You can follow UWS on social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

UWS is managed by EDP, a leading soccer management company that runs a number of leagues and tournaments. In addition to UWS, EDP operates youth leagues that includes an NPL league, the EDP Super Club program, the EDP Premier League and the EDP Championship League. EDP also runs EDP Futures programs for U-7’s to U-12’s and it conducts more than 20 youth tournaments, including tournaments within its EDP Cup Series and EDP Showcase Series.

Media can contact UWS Director of Communications Jorma Kansanen by e-mail at Press@UWSSoccer.com. You can visit the league’s official website at UWSSoccer.com. Interested team applicants can contact League Commissioner Joe Ferrara by e-mail at Joe@UWSSoccer.com.

Tag(s): News |   New Jersey Copa FC  New England Mutiny  LI Rough Riders  New York Magic  TSF Academy  Lancaster Inferno