The Cougar Soccer Club sent 20 teams made up of more than 260 players to the Essex Fall Tuneup Tournament this weekend in West Orange and Livingston. Two of the teams brought home championships while five others qualified for the finals. All of the teams gained valuable experience as they prepare for the Northern Counties Soccer Association regular season.
The Cougar Boys U12 Premier team celebrates its victory in the Essex Fall Tuneup Tournament on Sunday, September 12 at Okner Field in Livingston, NJ. The players included (from left to right) Caleb Sims-Mead (kneeling), Sam Lambert, Tilian Duhaubois, Felix Benediktsson, Cooper Barkey (kneeling), Adam Curtiss, Matteo Romano, Jack Jordan, Nate Boatfield Bell, Asher Silverstein, Jack Selwyn, Charlie Young and Nathaniel Goldberg (kneeling).
Boys U12 Premier
The Boys U12 Premier Team smothered its competition en route to the A level championship. Outscoring opponents 22-1, the Cougar defense was led by Charlie Young and Nate Boatfield Bell.
The Cougars gave up one goal in its opening 7-1 win against Chatham United but goalkeeper Sam Lambert then posted three-straight shutouts: 3-0 over Verona United, 6-0 over West Orange and 6-0 over Livingston.
The Cougar Boys U11 Premier team celebrates its victory in the Essex Fall Tuneup Tournament on Sunday, September 12 at Okner Field in Livingston, NJ. The players included (from left to right) Nick Kolodiy, Ryan Spoerel, Jonah Chapman, Jack Schwegel, Stian Romano, Sam Cook, Lucas Alberico, Devan Bachhawat, Peter Stein, Julian Leonard, Luc Garcia Dudek, Missing from photo: Milan Pandya.
Boys U11 Premier
The Boys U11 Premier Team tallied three come-from-behind victories as it won the U11 B-level title. In the title game against Livingston, Cougar SC fell behind 1-0 before rallying for three-straight goals and a 3-1 victory. Led by goalkeeper Sam Cook, the team outscored opponents 15-4 en route to a 4-0 weekend. In addition to the championship win over Livingston, Cougar SC also defeated West Orange, 6-0, came from behind to beat Chatham United, 3-1, and battled back to beat Montclair, 3-2.
Boys U15 Elite
The Boys U15 Elite team topped Livingston 3-0 and West Orange 1-0 but couldn’t get past Chatham United, losing 3-1 and 4-1, to finish second overall. This was the first time this team had played together. Jaxon Nunes, Lucas Campos, Noah Freeman and Udochi Abengowe scored goals for Cougar SC while Ian Bigelow and James Nolan held strong in goal.
The Cougar Soccer Club Girls U14 Premier team celebrates after defeating Millburn SC in penalty kicks 0-0 (2-1) on Saturday September 11 at Heritage Middle School in Livingston, NJ.
Girls U14 Premier
A stout defense led by Zoe Woods carried the Girls U14 Premier team to the final of the B level bracket before falling to Millburn SC, 3-0.
Earlier in the weekend, Cougar SC beat Millburn on penalty kicks, 2-1. After Naomi Swanson shut out Millburn in regulation, she stopped multiple penalty kicks to keep her team alive. Claire Wissel had the winning kick to give Cougar SC the victory.
Cougar SC gave up just one goal in 5-1 and 4-0 wins against PSC Academy and Livingston Fire. Grace Nelson and Vivian Kubany each had multiple goals in the wins.
Boys U13 Elite Team
The U13 Elite team won a pair of shootouts to post a 2-2 record and finish second in the A-level bracket.
Cougar SC topped Chatham United 4-3 in penalty kicks after closing regulation time tied 1-1. Cooper Ferguson kicked in the game winner to beat Chatham.
The boys also went to penalty kicks against the Livingston Rebels after regulation ended in a 2-2 tie. This time, Mateo Garcia-Dudek had the game winner to give Cougar SC a 5-4 penalty kick triumph. Goalie Rafi Romanowsky kept the team alive in both games.
In the championship game against the Chatham United Hawks, the Cougar SC lost, 3-0.
Girls U11 Premier
The Girls U11 Premier team advanced to the final with a trio of dominating performances — 7-1 win over Montclair United, 6-0 over Millburn SC and 2-0 against West Orange. Goalkeeper Ella Chappelear turned in two shutouts with help from a strong team defensive effort. In the final, Cougar SC fell to Livingston 2-0. Dalia Smalls had an overall impressive performance in her Cougar debut.
Boys U11 Elite
The Boys U11 Elite squad finished second in the A level bracket after dropping a tight 1-0 loss to Chatham United. Cougar SC opened the tournament with dominating wins against Verona (5-1) and Millburn SC (7-1). They bounced back from the loss to Chatham to defeat Livingston 7-1 to clinch second place. The team had two players quarantined for the weekend and battled through the four-game schedule with just one substitute.
The Cougar Soccer Club serves more than 550 children from Maplewood and South Orange from ages 3 and up. The Academy program for birth years 2014-2018 begins this weekend. The travel program for birth years 2013 and up begins regular season competition on Saturday and Sunday. Home games are held at Borden Park and DeHart Park.
