U13 Girls Take 1st Place in Amherst Tourney

The Derry Eagles U13 Girls team used stellar defense and exceptional keeper play to take first place in the recent Amherst Memorial Day Tournament. Coach Ray Scott provides the details of the exciting weekend. Congratulations girls!

The Derry U13 Girls soccer team had an outstanding run at the Amherst, N.H. 2010 Memorial Day Classic.

The tournament started with a loss to Nashua (1-0), but was followed by two amazing wins against Ocean State of Rhode Island (6-2) and Hampton N.H. (5-1). This gave the Derry team enough points to win its qualifying group.

The semi-final game against Capital SC of Vermont concluded in a 1-0 Derry win advancing the girls to the finals against the same team they faced in 2009—Litchfield.

Litchfield had not lost a single game in league or tournament play over the previous 11 games. Derry was praised by Amherst referees as having the best defensive line up seen at the tournament this year, forcing dozens of offside calls. This was a tribute to the fantastic efforts by Sara Tridenti, Allison Salema, Hannah Smith and Sarah Burgess. Our goal keeping team led by Rebecca Scott and supported by Haley Psareas and DeLeah Barker was outstanding, allowing only seven goals through and holding off dozens more.

With a fast and powerful forward line led by Taylor Eccleston, Andrea Galvin, Danielle Fischer, Aeriela Thornton, Megan Wilson and supported by Liz Bonilla and Mckenzie Anderson, Derry began the final with an onslaught of shots on the Litchfield goal, completing the first half with 1-0 lead. The second half saw Rebecca Scott (goalie) coming off injured after saving a potential equalizing goal, replaced by Haley Psareas.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Left Forward Andrea Galvin shot an amazing scoring goal; however she was hit by the goalie and after a game delay of 15 minutes, was taken off by ambulance with an injury to her knee. While reeling in pain, Andrea muttered, “Did I get the goal, Coach? Did it go in?” — a true testament to her commitment. After restarting the game, Litchfield attacked our goal with a newfound focus. But with great saves by Haley Psareas and outstanding defense, Derry held on to its lead and won 2-1.

Head Coach Ray Scott and Coach Bill Fischer were emotionally drained waiting nearly three years for this team victory and were overjoyed handing out team trophies and informing the girls of their other award, attending a New England Revolution game at the end of June for a photo opportunity on the field.

GO EAGLES!

Back row left to right--Bill Fischer (Coach), Megan Wilson, Andrea Galvin, Allison Salema, Liz Bonilla, Sara Tridenti, Rebecca Scott, Rayleen Zavala, Mckenzie Anderson, Ray Scott (Head Coach); Front row left to right--Devon Murphy, Aeriela Thornton, Taylor Eccleston, Haley Psareas, DeLeah Barker, Sarah Burgess, Hannah Smith, Danielle Fischer