The Jersey United Soccer Club had another successful weekend at the NJ Wildcats Spring Invitational in Long Branch, NJ.  The U15 Charge, U15 Magic, and U16 Attack competed bringing home a tournament title and semi-finalist honors.

The Charge finished as tournament champions for the second tournament in a row.  The highly ranked tournament included some of the top teams in New Jersey. The Charge won all 5 games, scoring 10 goals and only giving up 2 , showing a great team effort. The Charge beat the New Jersey State Cup Champions Freehold Lady Strikers in the Semi Finals and defeated Cherry Hill FC in the final 2-0 to bring home the title. Goals were scored by Beth Bicknell (4), Erin Sulivan (2), Marisa Ruskan (1), Jacqueline McGinley (1), Andrea Niper (1) and Amanda Haik (1).

The Attack finished as semi-finalists for the second tournament in a row against some very strong competition.  With an overall record of 2-1, the Attack started out strong by defeating the #6 team in NJ, TRSA Blast by a score of 1-0.  A late second half goal by Erin Frazier and some outstanding saves by Cat Brown lead the team to a great win.  The second game of the day matched JU up with a technically strong and well coached Jersey Knight Mystic team.  The Mystic controlled the first half and created a few dangerous opportunities that were turned away by GK Cat Brown.  They eventually broke the deadlock with quick combination play down the left flank before a great far post finish.  After a few tactical adjustments which included a formation change to 4-3-3, the Attack regained control of the game in the second half and created a number of dangerous scoring opportunities.  They eventually broke the deadlock when Melissa Chernow made a run down the right flank and placed a beautiful cross on to the head of Lainey Kellogg, who "sloped" in the equalizer.  The final few minutes of the game was played back and forth in both ends with both teams creating opportunities.  With seconds left, the Mystic scored a great goal to secure the victory.  This last second goal was the dagger that prevented the Attack moving on to the finals.  The final game of the weekend pitted the Attack vs. the Watchung Hills Liberty.  The game started off sloppy for JU, however it didn’t take long to get on the board.  Only 10 minutes in to the game, a ball was sent in to the box and in the scramble, Erin Frazier finished for her second goal of the tournament.  Only a few minutes later, the Attack put in their second goal of the game by Lisa Matrale off of a corner from Krista Pacillo.  The second half saw Erin Frazier score her second goal of the game and her third of the tournament on a delicate finish past the goalkeeper off of a throw in.  The final goal came from Melissa Chernow who used her blazing speed down the right side of the field to finish past the goalkeeper to put the game out of reach. Overall it was a great weekend with only one goal against throughout the three games. 

Although the scorelines suggest otherwise the weekend was a success for the Magic in terms of development and team dynamics. ALL the games were competitive and for the final two games the Magic had the upperhand and should have won the both. The girls started to play more as a group as the weekend went on and their workrate without the ball and their commitment in the tackle was second to none. The team now understands what it takes to compete at the highest levels and know that mistakes get punished when playing stronger teams.

Congratulations to all JU teams for an outstanding weekend.