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Sports

Youth Soccer: Red Fury Win Pingree Tournament Championship

The Red Fury Came from Behind to win the U12 County Championship.

The following article was submitted by the North Andover Soccer Association.

 

On Sunday, June 19,  North Andover’s U12 D2 team, the Red Fury, faced off against their counterparts from Andover in the Essex County Championship game.  On a beautiful,sun drenched Father’s Day, North Andover’s undefeated unit quickly fell behind to the Thunder 2-0. 

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Making matters worse,  Andover knocked goalie Sam Naftal from the game.  Fortunately for the Red Thunder, they had an ace up their sleeve and were able to replace Naftal with Matt Shea in net who played brilliantly in goal.

Just before halftime, the tide turned for the Red Fury as they continued to put pressure on the Thunder’s defensive unit.  With the help of Matty Waterman and Nick Coutracos, Connor Willis was able to score a goal with hustle and grit, scoring a goal as he was knocked to the ground. 

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With the Thunder reeling, North Andover came storming out in the second half.  David Sciaudone scored early in the second half to tie the game.  With the help of Andrue Crowley, and defenders Andy Pelletier, Timmy Liu and Dan Packard, Bassel Elbetanony, the team’s sweeper, was able to keep the Thunder at bay and scoreless for over 55 minutes.

Regulation time ended with the game tied 2-2 and the game moved into overtime.  Andover was soon given a penalty kick in the overtime period which would almost have certainly given the Thunder the Championship had they scored. 

But Sam Naftal, who had heroically returned to the net despite his leg injury came up with a huge save.  Overtime ended and the game went to a shootout and the fans were ecstatic.   

During the shootout Reuben Philip, Luke Disalvo, and Connor Willis hit crucial penalty shots for the Red Fury.  Naftal once again came up huge with a save on Andover’s first shot. 

Michael Sullivan, North Andover’s last shooter stepped to the penalty spot knowing the team only needed one goal to take home the title.  He lined up his shot and nailed it in the back corner.  Game to Red Fury. 

It was a great Father’s day present for the Red Fury coaches and proud dads Rob  Sciaudone, Brian Packard and Chris Waterman.

Its been a great season thus far for the Red Fury and they hope to continue it this weekend when they move on the to the Massachusetts Tournament of Champions (MTOC) along with 5 other North Andover soccer teams. 

They are the boys Red Thunder, Explosion, the girls teams the Nitro, the Attack and the Red Hot Chilis.  Head out to Lancaster this weekend to cheer them on.   More information about these teams can be found on NASA’s website at nasoccer.com.

 

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Photo IDs:

Left to Right

Back Row  --  David Sciaudone, Michael Sullivan, Matty Waterman, Reuben Philip, Luke Disalvo, Timothy Liu, Andy Pelletier, Rob Sciaudone-coach

Front Row -- Chris Waterman-coach, Nick Coutracos, Connor Willis, Matt Shea, Andrue Crowley, Sam Naftal, Bassel Elbetanony, Dan Packard, Brian Packard-coach

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