U-17s Breanna Robinson Starts Big at University of Hartford

Breanna Robinson in Action for the U. Hartford Hawks

Breanna Robinson of the State Cup Champion U-17s has started her college playing career just like she ended her COE career -- fast and with a huge impact. Breanna just started her playing career for the University of Hartford and came on as a substitute in the teams' second game against Farleigh Dickinson University to score two goals in quick succession. Her electric performance has the America East and Division I soccer world buzzing as she was named the America East rookie of the week and earned one of the striker spots on the TopDrawerSoccer.com College Team of the Week. It looks like the America East schools are about to learn what Region I teams have had to learn, Breanna is one of the most dangerous strikers you will ever encounter. Everyone in the club will be watching her play this fall with great interest.

For more on Breanna's big week --

http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/component/option,com_topdrawer/Itemid,315/nid,3695/?SPID=5380&DB_OEM_ID=12400&SPSID=52142

http://www.americaeast.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=5380&SPSID=52142&&ATCLID=1568083&DB_OEM_ID=14000

http://www.hartfordhawks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=1568209&DB_OEM_ID=12400

An Active Pre Season -- Kimball Union and the Granite FC Friendlies

Christina Napolitano of the U-14s Attacking the Stars from Midfield

U-13s on the Eve of the Granite FC Friendlies

Most of the COE teams will be bringing their pre-season preparations to a close this week as we approach the traditional start to the Fall season -- Labor Day tournaments. In addition to training at the "Corp," the preseason activities have included our annual overnight camp at Kimball Union Academy and our series of friendly matches the weekend before Labor Day. Both were a great opportunity to train the girls hard and see how they play together in game settings.

The U-11s, U-13s and U-14s all travelled to Kimball Union Academy and trained intensively all day and into the evening of August 16, 17 and 19. Blessed with great weather and fantastic facilities, a tremendous amount was achieved in a short period. Although the girls grumbled a bit about the food, they managed to survive and have a good time. The highlights of each day was the three matches between the U-13s and U-14s. On Saturday night, the U-13s cohesion and understanding opened up the U-14s leading to a 3-0 drubbing. Although the U-14s are an entirely new team and this result could be expected, the U-14s did not take it well and put in a gritty and compelling effort Sunday evening that resulted in a 4-1 payback. The match on Monday, was a much closer affair with the U-13s taking a 2-1 win to get bragging rights for the weekend.

The next weekend -- August 23 & 24 -- the U-13s and the U-14s hosted ten teams at the Corp in the annual Granite FC Friendlies. In a festive atmosphere, the U-14s entertained the Stars U-13 United and U-14 Athletic teams as well as the U-14s from Delta FC and North Shore United. The U-13s played the Stars United U-13s and U-12s, the New England Comets U-13s and the Benfica U-13s.

The most compelling game played by the U-14s was against the Stars United U-13s. Although the Wanderers ultimately fell to the Stars 5-4, the girls showed that they could penetrate and score on a team that defends very well. As the U-14s' cohesion and understanding improve we can expect the defense to tighten up which would result in a winning score line.

For the U-13s, the girls best game came against the New England Comets -- Connecticut's U-12 State Cup Champions. The U-13 Wanderers surrendered a 1-1 draw to the Comets in the closing minutes of the game but showed strong passages of possession and build up play throughout the preceding 55 minutes. With better finishing -- excepting Molly Hemond's wonder goal from 25 yards -- the score line would have earned the girls a win.

With all of this preparation under their belts, the U-11s, U-13s and the U-14s should be prepared for travel to either the Seacoast facilities or Lancaster, MA for Labor Day tournament play. Successful league play in MAPLE and GSYSL play hopefully lies immediately beyond.