Albion Raptors 2 Come Away with First Tournament Championship

London, Charley (11)

The Albion Raptors opened up their tournament season today with the Ben Kirby Memorial Tournament, hosted at their own Albion High School. The Raptors were split up into two teams, Albion Raptors 1 was made up by Olivia Bieber, Elisa Bropst, Bonnie DiCureia, Grace Elschker, Kailey Merrill, Belen Rosario, and Brittany Spies-Hunt. Albion Raptors 2 included Nikki Creasey, Kenzi Hapeman, Emily Harling, Charley London, Leah Pritchard, Abby, Scanlan, Aurora Serafin, and Claire Squicciarini. Goalkeeper, Sydney Mulka, played for both teams.

Raptors 1 started off their tournament against Roy-Hart 2 with a close 1-0 loss. The Roy-Hart forward was able to put away a loose rebound for the game winner. In their second pool play game, they faced YMCA Blue and fell to a score of 3-0.

The Raptors 2 first game came against the Tigers and ended with a 3-0 victory with all three goals coming from different scorers. Scanlan had the first goal, Hapeman with the second, while Creasey added the third. In their second pool play game, the Raptors came out with another 3-0 win, this time facing off against a dirty Roy-Hart 1 team. Scanlan once against started off the scoring with a goal, with Squicciarini adding the last two.

The Raptors 2 headed into playoffs as the #1 seed, and the Raptors 1 started playoffs in the play-in game versus the Tigers. While the Tigers struck first, Albion battled to tie the game in the last five minutes off a goal by Bieber from Bropst. The Raptors began overtime with their starting five on the floor, Bropst, Bieber, DiCureia, Spies-Hunt and Mulka in goal. The first two 30 second intervals went by without a goal, another minute with Bieber and Bropst was not enough either. Finally it came to a hard-fought six minutes with just Bropst and Mulka on the floor before they were able to sub on Bieber. Mulka was able to feed Bieber for the game winning goal.

The following round in playoffs ended up being Raptors versus Raptors in the #1vs#8 game. Albion was able to call-up seventh grader, Alison Gibson, to play in goal for the Raptors 1. The Raptors 2 were able to get up early from a quick shot from Scanlan. While Albion 2 held most of the possession, the Raptors 1 defense was able to limit their shots. It wasn't until the last seven minutes when Creasey was able to double the lead. The Raptors 1 best chance came not long after that, when Merrill was alone in front, putting her shot just wide of the net.

With the Raptors 2 advancing to the semi-finals, they were set to face Roy-Hart 1 again. With two goals from Scanlan and Squicciarini, and another clean sheet from Mulka and her defense, they advanced to the finals against YMCA Blue.

The 15 minute regulation time wasn't enough for either team to find the back of the net. The Raptors started Scanlan, Squicciarini, Pritchard, Harling, and Mulka. After the first two 30 second periods, Albion was down to Scanlan, Squicciarini, and Mulka on the floor, when Scanlan tucked a cross from the wall to Squicciarini for the one-time finish and the championship. The Albion Raptors 2 finished the day 5-0 with zero goals against.

The Albion Raptors teams will continue their tournament season next Saturday, March 2, in the Warsaw Indoor Tournament. Following that, the LSYL team will playfor the league championship at 9:00 PM against FC Dynamo ROC.