The Weston Fury 92/93 Premier Girls team traveled to the prestigious Atlanta Cup Labor Day weekend to play some of the top Southeastern teams in our region. The girls proved themselves worthy by winning four of the five games they played, even though they started off a little sluggish they battled back and won the Championship in the U13 age group Division A in exciting fashion.
The girls started play against a skilled U13 Silverbacks Elite team. It was an early game and the first of the year for the girls. They played very strong in the first half and had many good scoring opportunities that just did not seem to go into the net. The Weston defense held strong most of the first half of the game with the exception of one quick break that the Silverbacks were able to capitalize on and surprise the Fury goalie. Weston kept battling in the second half and had numerous scoring opportunities again, while the defense with Kailyn Bresnahan, Abbey Fayerweather, Jessica Peck, Amanda Pivacco, and Lauren Silver stood their ground fiercely, shutting down every Silverback attempt to score, but unfortunately Weston turned up with no goals in the net and their first loss in the first game of the tournament 0-1. The girls would not be in control of their own destiny from this point forward; this fact seemed to wake them up into a frenzy in their second game as they defeated their next opponent the Cobb YMCA Strikers 6-0. The midfielders: Jessica Bello, Abby Carr, Haleigh Dunning, Ruthie Leiva, Ashley Oswald, Danielle Sherlock, and Alana Siceloff, did a wonderful job of distributing the ball in this game, and goalies Claire Cerda, and Mary Spring kept the ball out of the net.
The first day would end with the girls going to bed with a 1-1 record and 10 points overall for their win and no points for their loss. Sunday was an early game day at 8:00 AM the next morning. It was a beautiful dawn at Mount Carmel Park when the girls arrived at the fields with a heavy mist in the surrounding deciduous woods, and the bright orange sun rising on the horizon. Everyone knew what the girls had to do to make it to the playoffs. They had to win with at least three goals and a shutout to receive the maximum amount of 10 points and try and squeeze into a wild card berth with 20 points. The girls did their job and defeated the 93 Lady Thunder team, 6-1. The forwards: Nathalie Felipe, Melanie Meyer, Dara Spital, Danielle Vidal kept tenacious pressure on the 93 Lady Thunder defense and goalie. Although the girls did not get the shutout they wanted, they still had 19 points and a good chance of making it to the semifinals if mathematically one team would win, and then two would play and then one of those teams lost … By 12:30 PM on Sunday the girls had their answer after watching three games back to back to see if we would go home or continue on. It was a mathematical certainty that the girls had made the wild card berth! To some, this was the most exciting part of the day.
The girls played a fantastic semifinal against a very skilled and physical AFC Lightning 93 White team. This game was a “nail biter” as the two teams see-sawed back and forth to a Weston 3-2 score with one minute left. In fitting fashion, and with 30 seconds left on the clock, the AFC Lightning scored to tie the game 3-3. This meant the girls had to play two 5 minutes overtime periods, and then if nobody scored they would go to penalty kicks. After a hard fought first overtime period there was no score. Then in the second overtime period Abby Carr landed a bullet of a shot into the net and the girl’s won the semifinal. The excitement was overwhelming. The girls had fought back to be in control of their own destiny again and earned a berth in the championship match on Sunday. Ironically, against the same team that had defeated them the first day 1-0; the U13 Silverbacks Elite.
The Championship game was another early game at 8:30 AM on Monday, Labor Day. The girls played a very closely contested game against the Silverbacks again, and at half time the score was 0-0. Then with ten minutes left in the second half Melanie Meyer put one in from a cross to the front of the net. Weston would not look back at that point and would put a lid on the game five minutes later with another goal by Daniele Sherlock after a scramble in front of the net. It was poetic justice as the Weston girls defeated the Silverbacks 2-0. The girls were the champions of the Atlanta Cup, and they deserved it. What a fight these girls put up, they showed a lot of heart and never gave up!
The Fury 92/93 Girls Premier Team is: Goalkeepers: Claire Cerda, Mary Spring Defense: Kailyn Bresnahan, Abbey Fayerweather, Jessica Peck, Amanda Pivacco, Lauren Silver. Midfield: Jessica Bello, Abby Carr, Haleigh Dunning, Ruthie Leiva, Ashley Oswald, Danielle Sherlock, Alana Siceloff. Forwards: Nathalie Felipe, Melanie Meyer, Dara Spital, Danielle Vidal.
Coach: Jeff Hoerner
