Fire Cheetahs Win Tournament

Newtown’s U10 girls’ soccer team, the Fire Cheetahs, won their division in the Newtown Soccer Club Fall Tournament in mid November.

In the first round, the Fire Cheetahs narrowly beat the Newtown Dynamite, 2-1. In a closely-contested game with a lot of action at midfield, Angela Carriero and Julia Kanaan battled for the ball with Dynamite players Rose Duval, Sydney Howard, and Sophia Romano.

Emma Stierle and Ashley Marron moved the ball up for the Fire Cheetah offense, and some great shots by Lindsey Gallagher were denied by outstanding Dynamite keeper Jane Shearin. Dynamite defenders Zoe Waller, Lauren Davis, and Nicole Keeping also made scoring tough, while the Fire Cheetah defense, led by Alex Toth and Kristina Goeree, made scoring equally difficult for the Dynamite. Fire Cheetah keeper Ruby Rose Rankin also made some great saves.

Late in the first half, the Fire Cheetahs scored on a penalty kick by the tireless Merije DeWit, who had an excellent game overall. But the Dynamite came back in the second half with a goal by Jane Shearin, and had several strong attacks, led by Carlie Marie Smith, Piper Coleman, and Katherine Dirga. But with just minutes left in the second half, speedy DeWit scored on a breakaway to give the Fire Cheetahs the victory.

In the championship game, the Fire Cheetahs edged the Screaming Eagles 1-0. The game’s only goal was scored midway through the first half by Merije DeWit.  Elizabeth Salley played was strong on offense and Shauna Tucker was tough at midfield. In addition to Toth and Goeree, defender Rylee Harrell stood up to great offensive pressure of the Screaming Eagles, led by Julie Raigosa and Abby Grenier. For the Screaming Eagles, Liza Gentrup and Gwen Drew had exceptionally strong games, and Hannah Fweath and Megan Riccardi were excellent defenders who blocked several strong attacks by the Fire Cheetahs. Julie Raigosa was also an excellent goalkeeper, and Morgan Seras brought the energy to move the team forward. The Screaming Eagles kept up the pressure in the second half, but keeper Emma Stierle stopped two PKs to preserve the victory for the Fire Cheetahs.