RAGE Wins District Cup!
The Rage U-13, Division 3 soccer team defeated the Livermore Arsenal on Sunday Dec 2 to capture the District-III Cup title in Newark.   To get to the championship game, the Rage defeated the Dublin Hurricane, Rage Blue and the Mustang Rush before posting the 1-0 win over Livermore.  In the first game on Saturday, the Rage’s offense was relentless, as Nicole Henninger, Ellie Jurich and Rachael Kapp continually advanced the ball forward and challenged the Hurricane’s defense.  Playing without injured Sara Cohen, the Rage offense didn’t miss a beat with Kapp scoring twice and Shannon Malindzak and Madison Nethery each adding one goal to pace the Rage to a 4-1 victory. 
Saturday’s second game featured Rage versus Rage Blue, as the two teams faced off again for the third time.  After two disappointing loses to their sister team, the Rage was determined not to let history repeat itself.  Coming out strong, the Rage middle field play of Nicole Thomas, Alex Dickinson, Lauryn Hayashi, Lindsey Allen and Isabela Castaneda controlled the central play, leading to attacks by the Rage forwards.  Scoring her third goal of the day, Kapp found the back of the net giving the Rage a 1-0 win over the Blue.  
Needing a win to advance to the finals, the Rage came up big with a strong defensive performance against the Mustang Rush.  A strong wind favored the Rush throughout the first half but the defensive of Cassidy Lynch, Alyssa Keiner, Maddie Martin, Olivia Climent and Jamie Bodmer and goalie Morgan Bowen kept the Mustangs frustrated and scoreless.  In the second half, the Rage offense took control and began peppering the Rush keeper with shots.  Finally a hand ball in the Rush penalty box gave the Rage its best opportunity as Climent buried the penalty kick to give the Rage another 1-0 victory. 
Sunday’s championship game was again a defensive struggle as both teams fought for control of the ball.  Using their kicking strength, the Arsenal continued to send long kicks to their forwards, but the Rage’s defense was flawless.  The defensive rotation of Allen, Lynch, Keiner, Martin, Malindzak and Bodmer kept the Arsenal attacks at bay.  After a scoreless first half, the Rage finally broke the deadlock.  A Rage shot toward goal, and the subsequent Arsenal’s defensive clear found Rage’s Nethery just outside the penalty area.  Nethery wasted no time pounding an arcing shot just over the Arsenal goalie and into the back of the net.  As the time counted down, Livermore generated one final attack and a controversial ending.  After a long kick toward goal from the Arsenal mid-field, the ensuing stop by Rage’s goalie, Cheyenne Lofthouse-Wolf rebounded to an Arsenal forward who quickly shot what appeared the tying goal.  Unfortunately for the Arsenal, the goal was reversed after illegal goalie contact was called on the play, preserving the Rage the 1-0 championship win.   The Rage goalie duo of Bowen and Lofthouse-Wolf, as well as the defense have been awesome, yielding only one goal and posting 5 shutouts in the last six games.  The Rage now prepares for the Association Cup Tournament in January.