U10 Boys
Saturday v. Suffield
"I would like to begin by mentioning the Cosmos had a friendly on Saturday, a league game on Sunday, and a friendly on Monday. With the cancellation of our practice on Wednesday due to the weather, the boys had a break from the field since the friendly on Monday, as I did not reschedule practice. The first time we met since 5/3 was at Suffield this past Saturday. I have been narrating the importance of passing, opening to space, and first touches as well as focusing on these basic elements in practices since the preseason. We had a slow start this season, but something clicked within the boys on Saturday.
The U10 boys met at Suffield this past Saturday ready to play. The Cosmos began the game with a focus on implementing the fundamentals mentioned above. We had some coaching opportunities where some players were being a bit selfish and creating turnover opportunities for the opposing team. Making the quick decision to pull certain players to have conversations to recenter the focus of the team, and re-release them to practice the feedback in the game worked well. All of a sudden Suffield had no chance of containing the relentless attack on their goal. We had some missed opportunities but overall managed to dominate and win comfortably 6-0.
Our game v. Tolland began similar to our last meeting, physical and every one of our goals went answered with a goal of their own. The first half ending Tolland up by one point (4-3). At halftime, we reflected as a team to understand where we were shying away from the focus once again; the long boots began to show out of desperation and some players were beginning to lose momentum. I reminded the boys of the great soccer that was played by them the day before, recentering the focus on passing opening to space, and making every effort to make quality first touches to give room for more passing, shooting, and/or dribbling. The confidence set back in and the boys began to gel once again. This time the Tolland side resorted to playing an aggressive half of soccer, but our boys did not back down and turned up the heat. End result was positive, to say the least as the Cosmos dominated and once again won comfortably 8-4.
We will continue to focus on the basics but shift into some set-piece strategies which will hopefully inspire the boy's creativity and game IQ."
~Coach Guiseppe Duran
U15 Boys
"Quiet weekend for the U15 boys. We had a non-league game versus Wethersfield. Newington prevailed while both teams were missing key players. Our schedule continues to be fluid as our Friday league game has been moved and our first CUP game is scheduled for 5:00pm on Saturday. Wish us luck!"
~Coach Tom Bowan
U11 Girls
"Saturday we played Windsor Locks and were able to maintain possession of the entire game. We made it difficult for Windsor Locks to get into any rhythm and came away with a 6-0 victory.
Sunday we played Suffield. We started the game on our heels. Suffield was getting to the ball faster and winning the ball. We fought the entire game but Suffield wanted it more on this day. Unfortunately, several missed opportunities with shots on goal led to a 5-4 loss."
~Coach Jeff and Idalina
U13 Girls
"This week we played West Hartford and traded goal for goal ending in a 4-4 tie, in what was a fast-paced game. We tried a different formation to try and create some better combination sequences upfront. Also, I would like to mention the consistent solid play of our holding midfielder, Olivia “Liv” Canepari. She scored 3 goals this past Saturday, has delivered for the team week after week on both offensive and defensive sides of the ball. Olivia’s quick feet, decision making, and on-field awareness continue to create scoring opportunities in every game this year."
~Coach Paul Giangrave
U11 Girls B
"Two great wins this weekend highlighted with superb ball movement and teamwork. Friday night we played Glastonbury and won 6-2. Mother’s Day we had a league game against Windsor Locks and Julia Ward made a beautiful save on a PK, preserving a shutout resulting in a 5-0 finish."
~Coach Chris Nascimento
U13 Boys
“I’m very proud of the boys. We are making lots of progress and that was seen this weekend. We scored some great goals and played well together leading to a strong win against Wethersfield. We competed with a good Burlington team on Sunday but unfortunately did not earn the result we wanted. I really enjoy watching the boys improve collectively and as they play for each other. We are looking forward to keeping up this momentum in our Cup match at Tolland.”
~Coach Quentin Lux