The Allentown Attack U-10 boys soccer team had a busy week. The Attack spent Mother’s Day weekend participating in the East Windsor tournament. They played two games and came away with a split as they lost to a talented LSTS Roma team 4-0 in the opener but came back to defeat Lacey 6-0 in their second match. The Attack resumed their league schedule this past weekend, as they traveled to Little Egg Harbor to take on the Pinelands Lightning. Allentown came away with a 3-0 victory in a good competitive match. Alec Scarano got the Attack on the board seconds into the match as he took a lead pass off the start-up and launched it over the Pinelands goalie’s head.

The match then settled down into a close contest until Steven Hensley drove home a rebound off a Scarano shot, as Allentown jumped out to the 2-0 lead. Anthony Derisi, although slowed by a slight knee injury, continually drove down the right side for the Attack generating numerous scoring chances. His efforts were rewarded when Hensley once again converted a rebound and the Attack went on to win 3-0. Allentown played good defense and held Pinelands at bay. Ryan Darrell, Evan Byrnes, Cameron Mory, Jake Calvitti, and Nathaniel Marquez in goal anchored the Attack’s back line. Justin Patrylow, Alexander Valentino and Patrick Dawes all played strong offensive games for the Attack. Allentown plays an important match this Tuesday at home against a tough Twin County squad. It doesn’t get any easier, as Howell comes to Mark Harbourt for a Saturday match-up with the Attack later in the week.

The Allentown X-treme U-8 boys soccer team traveled to Howell on Saturday to face off against the United Raptors. The match was a very close throughout the first half. Allentown scored first as Justin Scarano crossed the ball from the right wing to an unstoppable Jake Alessi. Jake finished off the play by placing the ball in the back of Howell’s net. Howell came back shortly thereafter and tied up the score before the end of the half. Joshua Samuels protected Allentown’s goal. Robert Ellerson offered his teammates inspiration as he cheered them on from the sidelines with his arm in a cast. The X-treme came out strong in the second half. They picked up the pace and never gave up despite having two goals called back. The defensive line of Joey Patrylow, Brody Zauner, Connor Sullivan, and Kevin Primich held the Raptors at bay, preventing them from getting off a single shot during the second half under the direction of goalie Eric Sullivan. Kevin Pereira once again demonstrated his uncanny foot work. Rory Green, Matthew Derisi and William Sjaastad controlled the middle of the field and finally gave Jake Alessi the chance he needed to break away and net the second “countable” goal for the X-treme. The X-treme came out ahead with a 2-1 victory.

The Allentown United U-13 girls soccer team traveled to Sea Girt on Sunday to take on second-place Monmouth Coast Monsoons and came away with a 0-0 tie. Monmouth Coast started the game very strong and earned four corner kicks in the first five minutes of the game. Diana Braun was spectacular in goal. She made key saves to hold off Monmouth Coast’s early attack. United finally got the ball upfield but had very limited scoring opportunities.

The field was in bad shape and the ground was hard, making it difficult to control the ball. In the second half, United was the better team and had better scoring chances. Shelby Doll took a shot from outside the box, but the goalie made a diving save. Minutes later, Shelby Doll made a pass to Danielle Turner and her shot went just wide of the goal. Ashley Perritt had a couple of shots toward the end of the game, but again the goalie came up with saves. United’s defense, led by Meghan Valnoski, Brittany Hodul, Ashley Pereira and Shannon Buckley, were fantastic. United plays this Sunday at home before they fly to Disney World for the Disney Memorial Weekend Tournament.

UFA 40’s strong season continued with a 5-1 win over East Brunswick at the Mark Harbourt Soccer Complex on Sunday morning. With regular goalkeepers Scarano and Reed missing from the lineup, UFA were very happy to see local veteran Jeff Holbrook come out of retirement for one more game and take charge in the nets. They took an early lead with a solo effort by David Sebag, who fired one in after rounding two defenders. Scott Perritt got the next after a mix-up in the East Brunswick area left him with a simple tap-in for a messy, but valid goal. At the other end the UFA defense was kept busy with several strong runs by the opposing forwards. Holbrook was called upon several times to make key saves. Unfortunately, following a lapse in midfield, East Brunswick managed to steal a goal with a high-looping shot over his head, sending the teams in at half time with a narrow lead for UFA. They came out strong in the second half with a second goal by Sebag, and a first for Steven Sinai to put the game out of reach of the visitors. Dan Caruso made it 5-1 with a nice goal with just seconds left in the game.

The defense, with Amaro Pereira filling in admirably for the injured Chuck Darrell as stopper, had another very strong outing. Midway through the season UFA has a 7-1 record. Next week’s game is at home to Brick.

The Battle of Monmouth U-13 Premier Girls Soccer team will be holding tryouts on Tuesday (rain date is May 26) from 6:30-8 p.m. Contact John DeCicco at (732) 851-5327 or e-mail John@Aligon.com for more information on the tryouts.