Firestorm Pick Up, Where Left Off

DENVILLE, NJ – The 11U Florham Park Firestorm traveled to Denville to open their 2017 Flight 7 campaign.  Having gone through flights 8 and 9, they open Flight 7 with a 3-2 win over Denville United Arsenal.

It was a hard fought game with momentum swinging to both teams throughout the contest.

The challenge of being on a bigger field with more payers would be detrimental to any teams first game, but Colin Heinold proved that he can keep up.  He set the pace of the game with his tireless efforts of running from box to box for the entire first half. Digging out tackles from bigger players, getting the ball down the field and never giving up on a play.

Heinold set up Chase Sugg who opened up his 2017 account first for Firestorm through hard work and a clinical finish to give the boys the lead 1-0 10 minutes into the game.

It wasn’t that much longer when Heinold was able to break through the pack and set himself free to finish a break away and give Firestorm a 2-nil lead.

“Wee-man packs a big punch”  Coach Garing mentions after game when talking about Heinold.  “He (Heinold) put the game on his back in first half”

Firestorm went into the half up 3-nil after a scrappy play by new-comer Reid Baldwin who netted his first soccer goal ever.  Baldwin had a very impressive game being that he has never really played soccer in a competitive match.

Excellent save and net minding by Bryce Cicchino who had a stellar performance in the net and on the field.

Net minding duty was split with Leif Youngren who stood out with a great game on the field at left midfield.

The second half was an uphill battle, literally, as Denville picked up momentum putting 2 in the good guy onion bag right away.   This cause problems for the Firestorm the entire second half as they were on their heals most of the last 20 minutes.

Coach Santillan was spotted after the game and offered a statement, “They (Denville) scored two quick goals in the second half, but the boys showed poise and displayed grit in holding back Denville for the 3-2 win”

But in the end, they pulled through to win their opener on the road with a 3-2 victory.