The Newtown Vipers – fresh off a spring state cup championship – haven’t missed a step as they opened the 2001 fall youth soccer season by capturing the Ridgefield Warm-Up Tournament championship in convincing fashion.

The Vipers grabbed the U11 boys state cup title in the spring and return to the field this fall entirely intact – even having added another key player. The Vipers cruised to four wins in the Ridgefield Tournament.

Meanwhile, the Rampage (girls U10) were off to the Ridgefield SCOR Tournament, the Raptors (boys U10) were off to the Farmington Tournament, the Hurricanes (girls U11) were off to the Farmington Shootout Invitational, the Navigators (girls U12) were off to the Ridgefield Warm-Up Tournament, and the Storm (boys U14) were off to the Sao Palo Invitational Tournament in Naugatuck.

Read what happened . . .

Rampage

The Rampage opened the fall campaign with a 1-2-1 record in the Ridgefield SCOR Tournament.

In a 1-0 loss to Darien to open the tournament, the midfield action was handled by Laetitia de Brantes, Ellen Ritzinger and Hannah Basch-Gould. Jordyn Good anchored the defense. In a 4-0 win over Norwalk, Berenice Bryant, Chelsea Fay, Taylor Smith and Kate Bowen all scored while Katie Pessin and Allison Modzelewski combined in goal for the shutout.

In a 2-0 loss to Fairfield, Caleigh Boyle, Kristen Tanner, and Smith all played well. In an exciting 0-0 tie with Ridgefield, Pessin and Modzelewski were once again solid in goal. Bowen and Fay shined on defense and Good played well at the forward position.

Raptors

The U-10 boys travel team saw some stiff competition in last weekend’s Farmington Labor Day soccer tournament – the first time that this group of boys had played together as a team.

In the first game against Southbury, Adam Buccino showed tremendous speed as he helped the offense move the ball down the field. Sam Hoagland crossed the ball to Chris McCann, who found the goal for the Raptors’ only score in a 3-1 loss. Gene Kallivrousis was outstanding on defense as he hustled to break up the Southbury attack.

In the second game, the Raptors hung in there and were able to come back from a 3-0 deficit at half time to tie the game against Farmington 3-3. Eric Keogler and Daniel Greenwood helped move the ball down the field on offense while Ben Miles was an effective sweeper and helped shut Farmington down in the second half. Ben Morrison scored on a pass from Andy Lapple and Jeff DiNicola demonstrated some impressive foot skills and scored the other two Raptor goals.

In the third game against an especially well-disciplined Monroe team, Matt Iassogna hustled after the ball on offense while DiNicola and McCann made some outstanding saves as goalies.

In the fourth game against Montville, Kyle Droniak dribbled the ball down the length of the field and had several great passes to the center. Lapple passed to Danny Clement who scored the first Raptor goal and Colin Jacob scored the second goal in an exciting 3-2 game.

Hurricanes

A second place finish at the Farmington Shootout Invitational is not a bad way to start out.

The Hurricanes first defeated Monroe, 2-0. Tania Domingos found the back of the net first with Genna Schueuerell sealing the victory with the second goal. Casandra David turned back everything Monroe had with some outstanding saves.

Later, Tania Domingos and Megan Hansen each scored for another 2-0 victory over Fairfield. Sarah Shannon, Kelly Sullivan and Nora Lynn Shimko added to the Hurricane attack with tenacious pressure and teamwork. Colleen Thornberg, Molly Curry and Adelle Cerreta made it difficult for Fairfield to mount any kind of attack.

In a real nail-biter on Sunday, the Hurricanes broke a 0-0 tie with only 30 seconds left on the clock. Kasey Schulz put the ball past the Westfield United goalie to send the elated Hurricane’s on to the Monday final. Jennifer Brewer, Katie Serock and Emily Weber rounded out a real solid performance by all of the Hurricanes.

So, instead of watching the 40th annual Newtown parade, the Hurricanes were battling Farmington for the championship. With both teams coming close on a number of occasions, Farmington found the net early in the second half for the game’s only goal and the only goal Newtown would give up in the tournament. Curry, Cerreta and Haley Keane turned in some outstanding play on defense to keep the Hurricane’s hopes alive.

Vipers

Offensive power fueled the Vipers to a 4-0-0 record in the Ridgefield Warm-up Tournament.

West Hartford met the Vipers first and a strong midfield fueled the Newtown offense, while aggressive defensive play held the West Hartford squad scoreless. Danny Smith and Alex Bowen shared time in the net while Chris Meier, Sean Weir and Mat DeBrantes anchored the Viper defense. Nick Kallivrousis scored twice as Bowen, Paul Andras and Max Hoagland all added a goal apiece.

The Vipers moved on to play Westport and the Newtown boys quickly put offensive pressure on the opposing defense. In the fourth minute Anthony Florez but the Vipers in the book. Andras netted two more in this match along with Justin Miller, who netted another. Drew Taylor and Jason Smith, who controlled the center midfield along with Kevin Davies as the stopper, created a Viper triangle in the middle of the field that denied the formation of any Westport attack. Danny Smith provided strong stopper minutes in the second half. Westport scored the only goal against the Vipers in the tournament with a long run behind the Newtown defense, in the second half.

The Wilton Warriors, who fell to the Vipers in the third round of the spring U-11 State Cup Tournament, were excited and enthusiastic during their pre-game warm-up, but the start of the match would quickly change that. With some Newtown coaching motivation, the Viper’s center mid, Miller, shot on goal within 30 seconds of the opening whistle and Andras finished the play netting the ball only seconds later. Kevin Troy netted another 2:30 into the half, while Andras found the nylon again in the next minute. With a quick 3-0 lead Newtown settled down and played possession ball for a while but when Miller again laced a shot at the Wilton net, Ethan Canfield touched the rebound in for Newtown’s fourth in the half. The Smith twins shared time in goal but did not see much action, as Wilton could not push through the Viper defense. Weir, Meier, DeBrantes, Davies and Taylor all created great defensive plays keeping the Viper shut out alive. Miller and Canfield each scored in the second half as Newtown went on to win 6-0.

Newtown’s final game, against Ridgefield, began with a feverish pace as Ridgefield’s pride helped push the local team. Newtown’s play seemed sluggish and lackluster compared to the quick and aggressive Ridgefield boys. Second half play quickly turned the Viper way when Taylor, J. Smith and Miller worked up a sweat winning balls and maintaining possessions for Newtown. Solidifying the midfield allowed the wings, Kallivrousis, Canfield and Hoagland to push wide and open the field. Troy laced in the first score of the match over the keeper’s hand and the Vipers came alive. Miller made a run through the defense and netted Newtown’s second ball just two minutes later. Canfield headed in Newtown’s last score of the tournament as they went on to a 3-0 shutout victory.

The Vipers finished in first place in their bracket with a 4-0-0 record with eight different Vipers scoring the 18 goals. The defense allowed just one goal.

Navigators

The Navigators opened the Ridgefield Warm-Up Tournament with a 2-0 win over Norwalk. Harriet Morgan and Jackie Schulz both scored on first-half breakaways. Jaclyn Petrasanta, Christie Attanasio, Evan Cerreta and Julie Landin led the defense.

The Navigators then fell to Wilton, 2-0, despite the efforts of Rachel Maley, Claire Ober, Jackie Kirol, Katie Kirrane and Petrasanta. The ‘Gators rebounded with a 2-0 win over Ridgefield as Alana Bilangi and Maley both scored (Kirol registered an assist). Katie Powers played well at the midfield while Caroline Kraich and Ashley Braun played well. Attanasio anchored the defense.

The ‘Gators finished up with a 1-0 win over Fairfield. Morgan scored the lone goal on a breakaway. Cerreta hit the post on one of her shots and Schulz had a strong overall game. Bilangi, Ober and Kraich all played well.

Storm

The newly-formed Storm opened the fall season in Naugatuck and went 1-2-0 at the Sao Palo Invitational.

The Storm defeated Southbury, 3-1, to start the tournament. Nick Sando, Tad Pierson and Alex Naldini all scored while Max Barrett registered an assist. Will Brooks, Matt Boland, Justin Carotti and Billy McCann all played well on defense.

The Storm then fell to Naugatuck, 2-0, despite the efforts of goaltender Steve Marks, Jon Hartlett, Chris Nuelle, Matt Norris and Eric MacKnight. They finished the tournament with a 1-0 loss to North Branford on a goal scored with just 30 seconds left to play. Alex de Brantes, Marks, Tyler Bigham, Ross Macleod, Alex Naldini, Sando, Pierson and Jim Wilkins all played well.