The Millstone Stingers U-10 boys travel soccer team began their fall season with their debut appearance within MOSA's highest ranked grouping, the Premier division. With that, the Stingers proved their mettle by notching their first win against the impressive Marlboro Heat.

As both teams squared off on the pitch, quick play was the name of the game. Each team engaged within tight give-and-go's and solid follow-throughs, with the narrow margin of victory given to the team with no quitters - the Millstone Stingers.

Leading the offensive onslaught were midfielders Nick Sample and Bryan Walkley, with three and two goals respectively. Their driving power and steadfast ball control found the back of the net while putting the Marlboro keepers into overdrive. Walkley and Sample had the right stuff with deft footwork and hard, long shots taken from the outside. Providing scoring support and offensive diversion in the wings and center field were rotating power forwards Connor Bednarz, Kevin Towle, Paul Haines, Conor Murphy, Nick Pritchard, Jack Giglia, and midfielder Zach Reutsch. Their triangular passing game poked holes within Marlboro's defense - opening up quality shots and ample scoring opportunities.

The Stinger defense was able to cool the Marlboro Heat by keeping one step ahead and deflecting any cross passes and center field drives. Manning "the wall" were Jordan Herzog, Thomas Malik, Justin Paglia and David Cifelli. Keepers on both sides were relentlessly attacked with numerous runs and tight shots taken within the box. Standing sentry at the goalmouth were Nicholas Pritchard and Jack Giglia; their quick reaction and brave charges against shots taken within close range were the winning edge against the experienced Marlboro Heat, with a final score of 5-3.

This past weekend brought the Howell Vipers to Stinger Stadium for their second game of the season. Leading the attack was power forward Jack Giglia, who muscled his way between two defenders down the center, to line up a rocket shot 20 yards out. Next up was an offensive convoy involving give-and-go's between striker Connor Bednarz and midfielder Bryan Walkley. With a bounced shot off the crossbar, power forward Paul Haines came in hard on the outside of the left post to hook a shot into the lower corner of the net. Keeping the Stingers fresh on this hot and humid day were rotating offensive weaponry Conor Murphy, Kevin Towle, Nick Pritchard and Jack Giglia as forwards, and Zach Reutsch as midfielder. Posing both an offensive/defensive threat as midfielder, was Nick Sample. He did a two-foot samba down the middle of the field, snaking past the defense and midfield, to nail one in the center of the cage; he did an encore play in the second half to secure the winning goal.

Rotating as forwards/goalies, were Pritchard and Giglia; their saves and smart play were critical for the defense. Keeping the offensive game on the outside, and compressing the Howell players to small spaces, were the incredible Stinger defense: Thomas Malik, Justin Paglia and Jordan Herzog played nearly the full game in hot, physical play - muzzling the talented Vipers to a close score of 4-3, Millstone.

With a record of 2-0, the Stingers will face the Freehold Storm this coming weekend.

The Millstone Junior Midgets held off a very tough West Windsor squad, 6-0, to remain undefeated at 3-0. With two starting players injured, including starting quarterback Connor Kennedy, the entire team was instrumental in this win. Alec Schwarz started at quarterback and played extremely well in scoring the only touchdown of the game. Chris Dowdy and Nicholas Lucarella gained tough yards against a stout West Windsor defense. The offensive line led by Scott Keleher, Michael McGuiness and Kyle Davis continued its outstanding play in opening holes for the running backs and protecting Schwarz.

The defense, led by Pat Curry, Michael Makwinski, Steffi Bartley, Ian Schwartz, Michael Kazinski, Nicholas Lucarella, Eddie Kaplan and Chris Dowdy recorded their first shutout of the season. Gerry Borna, Justin Bregman, Dom Lazaro and Steven Viglianti contributed to the win on both sides of the ball.

The U10 Allentown X-Treme played at home this past Sunday and suffered their first loss in two years of MOSA play. Forward Jake Alessi scored early in the second half to put Allentown up 1-0. The Freehold Raiders came back to tie the game minutes later. Freehold went up 2-1 on a direct kick from 25 yards out. Goalie Josh Samules had no chance. Alessi tied the game up on a breakaway with 10 minutes left in the game. The X-Treme had many chances to put the ball in the net but could not capitalize. Freehold scrambled to get goal number three with just two minutes left in the game.

The Upper Freehold-Allentown Women's Soccer team won their second game of the season with a 4-1 win over the Monroe Magic. Melanie Astore had a hat trick and Elysa Neely added one. The women's team is now 2-0 and continues their season on Sunday, Sept. 24, at 9 a.m. against the Mercer Metros at Veterans Park in Hamilton.

The Allentown Central Redbirds Junior Pee Wees played their first conference game Sunday at Hopewell Valley. Even though the team lost, they showed a lot of heart and character by not giving up and played hard to the last play of the game. With only 19 players suited up due to a stomach virus that hit the team, these players stepped up and played positions they haven't played all year. The only score for the offense came on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Nick Singler to Tom Anzalone late in the fourth quarter. The defensive line played hard even without key players. Defensive tackle Ryan Smith recovered his first fumble of the year.

Head Coach Roger Loichle said he could not be more proud of the Junior Pee Wee team's heart and determination throughout this past game.

"I feel we grew stronger as a team and can build off our loss," he said.

The Junior Pee Wees will take on the Edison Jets Sunday at 11:30 a.m. at Byron Johnson Park, the home of the Allentown Central Redbirds Pop Warner organization. For more information on the Redbirds, visit the Web site: allentowncentralredbirds.com.

The Allentown Redbirds black flag football team took their first road trip of the 2006 campaign to Port Reading, and scored on the first offensive possession on a miss-direction sweep 40-yard dash by QB Ray Mills. The rest of the game the Redbirds offense, which consists of Jason, Dean, Matthew, Max, Chris F. and Garrett, were able to move the ball back and forth all over the field, but were not able to punch it in for another score. The Redbirds defense played a very strong game, with Brian, Liam, Cliff and CJ leading the way. While head coach John Lysy's ride home down the NJ Turnpike was all smiles, he knows that those players love to learn and play the game of football.

The Allentown Redbirds Red Flag team went on the road this week to face the Hopewell Valley Bulldogs. Offensively playing well for the Redbirds were Lucas Freda, Michael Surrace, Andrew Klopman, Max Allen, Danielle Sullivan, Tyler Damasiewicz, Henry Zimmerman, Izaak Mayerson and Robbie Buecker. Key defensive stops were made by Ben Strovinsky, Jacob Hill, Zach Powdermaker, Harrison Hill and Noah Duggan. Come out and watch both Redbirds Flag teams take on the Edison Jets, this Sunday at Byron Johnson Park.