The Millstone Stingers U10 boys travel soccer team took on the Marlboro Heat this weekend at home. As the Stingers were looking to increase their winning record, they had their work cut out for them. The Stingers were looking to get the upper hand right out of the gate, as Bryan Walkley, Nick Sample and Jack Giglia fired shots on goal but with no success. It wasn't until midway into the first half that the Stingers struck. Defender Thomas Malik cleared a blast from midfield down to the 18, where Connor Bednarz "Rocketed" one in to the back of the net, giving the Stingers the lead. As the teams played on, Marlboro was looking to turn up the heat, as they started putting the pressure on. The Wall, the Stingers' defense - Thomas Malik, Justin Paglia, Jordon Herzog and David Cifelli - were keeping the pressure on themselves, watching the backfield and helping goalie Nick Prichard hold down the fort. With only a couple of minutes left in the half, Nick Sample shuffled past the defenders, crossing a pass to Connor Bednarz, who then rifled one in, giving the Stingers a 2-0 edge at the half. As the game progressed, the Stingers' offense continued to make charges, coming from Conor Murphy, Zack Ruetsch and Kevin Towle, looking to put another one in for a score, but Marlboro would not have it. It wasn't until midway into the second half when the Stingers and the Heat battled it out in front the Stingers' goal, with Marlboro finally put one in, bringing the score to 2-1. With the clock running down, both teams were fighting to the end, with the Stingers looking to close the deal. But with only seconds left, Marlboro knocked another one in, tying the game, with a final score being 2-2. The Stingers take on the Howell Vipers next week at home.

The Allentown Charge U12 girls soccer team took on the Toms River Sting in a battle for first place on Sunday. An enthusiastic Charge team hoped to start out strong, but was soon behind 1-0 on a Toms River blast into the net during the first five minutes of the game.

Though it was a setback, Allentown fought to decipher the Toms River defense. It was the first time Allentown had seen a defense playing "four flat" in the back.

The midfield, led by Erin Primich, Lexie Hay, Kimberly Wilson, Kaitlyn Wolfsgruber and Jamie Perritt, fought to keep control of midfield, while the defense (goalies Donna Cashin and Shannon Abbott, defenders Taylor Bachik, Stephanie Falsetti, Bianca Covitz and Kelly Tohill) stood up to the Toms River advances. Through perseverance and persistence, Allentown's Sarah Mottram was eventually able to take a pass through the defense and place the ball past the goalie and into the net to notch the score at 1-1. With the newfound confidence on playing against the four flat defense, Mottram was again able to surge past the Toms River defenders and squeeze the ball in-between the post and the goalie for another Allentown tally and a 2-1 halftime lead.

The rebound continued as Allentown's offense came out strong in the second half with forwards Lena Campbell, Carly DuBroski, Krysta Plummer and Sarah Mottram pressing for the insurance goal. Mottram succeeded with her third goal of the day with a looping shot over the goalie's outstretched hands into the net for a 3-1 Allentown Charge victory.

The Charge next take on the Colts Neck Dragons at home and hope to amend their only defeat of the season.

The Allentown United U15 girls were away to Monmouth and played at Sea Girt with a strong breeze blowing in off the Atlantic. United were the first to get their names on the score sheet when Chelsea Donnigan had a breakaway down the right wing , outpaced the chasing defenders and fired a strong shot into the far corner of the net. They would not look back after that, as the whole team played a strong game. Dawn Taylor in particular was very effective down the left wing, sending over cross after dangerous cross for her forwards to run onto. Midway through the second half it would be Ashley Perritt who would score what would turn out to be the winning goal. She collected the ball near the halfway line and advanced to just outside the 18-yard line, where, despite her coaches yelling from the sideline for her to make the pass, she turned and fired in a shot. The ball flew past defenders and the keeper into the top right corner of the net - a very impressive strike. As it turned out they would need that goal to preserve the win as Monmouth would get a late goal five minutes from time. United took the three points, their very first win at that ground, and maintained their position near the top of the table. Christa Bonham made her debut for the team on the forward line, and she immediately showed her pace on and off the ball. This coupled with her willingness to tackle back makes her a fine addition to the squad.

Next week they are away to Staten Island.

The UFA40 were at home to Middletown in what would prove to be a very tough but fairly contested match. The home team was again this week just able to field the bare 11, but they played solidly as a team to hold off the visitors. Martin Scarano was called upon several times to make key saves in goal. The most notable at the end of the first half when he dived high and to his left to get his fingertips to the ball and manage to redirect the shot up and over the cross bar. The second half resumed with UFA actually creating more goal-scoring opportunities. Peter Tatinov and Patrick Coburn came closest to winning the match for the home side when they saw their shots saved at point blank range by the Middletown keeper. Again Amaro Pereira was very much to the fore, creating chances for his forwards and coming close on a couple of occasions with shots of his own.

UFA Soccer Assoc. President Briin Reed made his first appearance of the season and had a strong performance despite getting injured in the first half when he fell to the ground after challenging for the ball and had his hand raked over by someone's studs. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, a well-deserved point for both sides. Next week UFA are away to their old rivals Jackson.

It was a great weekend for the X-Treme U10 boys soccer team from Allentown. The boys went 2-0 in regular season MOSA action. The winning started Friday night against Marlboro. Scoring started early as William Sjaastad converted a pass from Kevin Primich. Justin Scarano had goal number two off a cross from sweeper Joey Patrylow. The first half ended 2-0 with Tommy McCarthy needed just one save. Scarano had goal number two just minutes into the second half. Jake Alessi had the assist. Goals four, five, and six were made by Matt DeRisi, Tommy McCarthy and Eric Sullivan. The game ended 6-2. On Sunday the boys played away in Tinton Falls and recorded their third shutout of the year. Sjaastad started the scoring early, just one minute into the game. Jake Alessi netted goals two and three off assists from Kevin Pereira and Patrylow. Goal number four came at the end of the first half when Brody Zauner sent a long ball to Pereira who rocketed a shot from the 18. With a 4-0 lead, Allentown switched it up. The defense remained strong and second-half goalie Brody Zauner recorded the shutout. The X-Treme improved to 5-2 on the season.

Sunday was a day of heart and perseverance from the first play to the last for the Allentown Mighty Mite Redbirds. They faced a tough Division 1 Monroe Wolverine team who definitely came to play. Both teams' defenses set the tempo of the game early with a scoreless first quarter. It wasn't until late in the second quarter that Monroe was able to score on a breakaway. Allentown came back two sets later when Freddy Bush, Ryan Hultberg and Brad Ryder combined on a tackle that jarred the ball lose for Willy Fiordland, who was in perfect position, for the recovery. Allentown then moved down the field behind the strong blocking of Joey Marsala-Williams, Matt Hahn, Sean Bennett, Teddy Chase, Chris Massarini, Matt Shreck, Troy Witholt, and Garrick Ross on a series of runs by Jake Alessi and Dakota Wojcik. On third down, Alessi broke through the middle behind key blocks by Joey Pritchard and Joseph Colletti, which was all he needed to find a gap and beat the defense to the end zone on a 17-yard carry for the tying TD. On the ensuing kickoff Alessi recovered the ball to give Allentown one more shot to take the lead with less than a minute remaining. Steven Alpaugh had a great run that put the Redbirds inside the red zone, but time ran out and the half ended in a tie. The stage was set for a great second half.

The second half promised to be just as hard fought as the first, starting with another scoreless quarter for both teams. The Redbird D, always aggressive and hard-hitting, continued to close down the run with good line of scrimmage control by Max Rosenfeld, Mike Hogan, Conner Marks and Joey Pritchard and key open field tackling by Shane Ryder. It wasn't until late in the fourth quarter that Monroe's speedy running back was able to break a tackle and find the sideline for another TD to take the lead.

With less that three minutes left in the game the Redbird special teams, who have been stellar all year long, came up with yet another huge play when Dakota Wojcik returned the kickoff for 52 yards and set the Redbird offense on the Monroe seven-yard line with a first and goal. RB Jake Alessi took the next hand off into the end zone for the tying TD. Against the wind and under pressure, kicker Chris Azzarello put the extra point through the uprights for the lead. Still with time left, both offenses went four-and-out against tough defenses. The Wolverines ended up with one last chance to score and went to the air, which resulted in a game-ending interception by safety Jake Alessi.

With this win under their belt, the Redbird Mitey Mites move onto the Pumpkin Bowl, which promises to be another exciting game of football.