Overall Record:  11 - 1 - 1   Conference Record: 10 - 0

  TMSC Website

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October 15, 2007
CA @ Ravenscroft  3 - 3

The Cary Academy blue squad looked to avenge its only loss, but for the second consecutive game got off to a slow start. Ravenscroft dominated the game's first ten minutes and scored off a cross to the far post in the 7th minute. Finding themselves down 1-0, the Chargers came to life and created a few good scoring chances which they unfortunately failed to finish. At the half, it was Ravenscroft 1, CA 0. 

The Charger 11 attacked ferociously throughout the second half, but at the 10 minute mark gave up a 2nd Ravens goal. Finally, in the 18th minute, Josh Kennedy broke clear off a CJ Miller feed, fought off the Ravens' sweeper, and beat the keeper with a well-placed low shot. Unfortunately, the Ravens responded only one minute later by putting tremendous pressure on goalie Jake Hammer, who blocked two in-close shots but could not reach a 3rd shot into the right corner. Down 3-1, the Chargers kept up the pressure and then with 4:17 remaining, Brett Reuben converted a CJ Miller cross to cut the deficit to one. Strong play by David Maydew, Connor Dunleavy, Ian Brooks, Adam Green and Grady Rosenkampf kept the ball in the Ravens half. When Josh beat a defender 20 yards out, he was roughly taken down. A yellow card and direct kick resulted. CJ calmly drilled the 20 yard shot past the keeper for the equalizer. Final Score: CA 3, Ravenscroft 3. The Chargers left the pitch a bit disappointed knowing that they were the better side today, and had many more good scoring chances; however, they also felt some pride in a terrific come back.

Congratulations to the team on a superb season! Hard work and strong team play resulted in a 12-1-1 record, undefeated and untied against middle school teams, and regular season and tournament Triangle Middle School Conference One champions

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October 12, 2007
TMSC Championship
CA vs Magellan Charter School 4 - 1

The Chargers came out flat in the game’s first 8 minutes and Magellan scored on a solid header off a corner kick. Jake Hammer then made two brilliant, diving saves on well placed shots or Magellan would have been up 3-0.  In the 12th minute the Blue 11 came alive on a CJ Miller blast off a nice Brett Reuben pass. Just two minutes later Josh Kennedy out-hustled a Magellan midfielder to a ball in our offensive third and dribbled with speed on the right flank toward goal. Surging past a Magellan fullback, Josh was knocked to the ground and a penalty kick appropriately awarded. Andrew Park calmly blasted the PK into the left side netting for a 2-1 CA advantage. CA scored its third first-half goal on a beautiful play started with a skillful give and go just inside our offensive half between Andrew Park and Grant Chapman. Andrew collected Grant’s return pass, dribbled past one defender down the left flank, and made an excellent cross to Josh, who one-timed a left footed bullet into the net.

The second half began much like the first half with Magellan putting a lot of pressure on CA, but this time our defense and Jake thwarted their efforts. CA picked up the pace and controlled much of the play in the game’s final 20 minutes. Brett Reuben scored the final goal as he gathered a goal kick by Jake (yes, a goalie assist!!), dribbled two defenders, and blasted a shot from in close past the keeper.

All 16 CA players deserve a great deal of praise for playing with intensity and amidst the all the excitement keep their composure to pass well and maintain their positional balance throughout the game. Congratulations to the Middle School Blue Team on a great game and well deserved regular season and tournament championships!

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October 11, 2007
CA vs. North Raleigh Christian Academy    3 - 1

The Chargers defeated North Raleigh Christian 3-1 in the semifinals of the Triangle Middle School Conference Tournament. Josh Kennedy opened the scoring in the 6th minute with a strong left footed shot off a pass from CJ Miller. Just two minutes later CJ scored his own left-footed goal on a nice pass from Brett Reuben. CA dominated the game's first 10 minutes with their strong midfield play and accurate passing. But the the Charger 11 seemed to lose their spirit, and permitted a NRCA goal as three different Knights were able to play the ball in the Charger box. The result was a shot from in close that gave Jake no chance. CA muddled through the remaining 15 minutes of the half and preserved a 2-1 advantage. In the second half the Chargers returned to their spirited play and outshot NRCA 10-3. Only exceptional play by the NRCA keeper kept the final score close, 3-1. Andrew Park scored the second half's lone goal on a penalty kick, earned by CJ Miller skillfully dribbling past 3 defenders with the 3rd Knight taking him down in the box. A much improved defense in the 2nd half -- Eric Fisher, Adam Green, Ian Brooks, Eric Eubanks and Connor Dunleavy -- shut down the NRCA attack.

The Chargers play Magellan in the Championship Game, at home tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. on the stadium field.

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October 2, 2007
CA vs. Cary Christian   5 - 1

The Blue squad played a strong game throughout and defeated Cary Christian 5-1 to improve its record to 9-1. For the fourth consecutive game the team scored a goal in the first five minutes of a half, actually scoring within the first five minutes of both halves today. Josh Kennedy scored one minute into the contest by creatively redirecting an Eric McDonald cross, and Brett Reuben scored 26 seconds into the second half off an Andrew Park pass when he dribbled two defenders and drilled a shot from close range. Between these goals CA scored on Grady Rosenkampff's first goal of the season, a solid shot off another Eric McDonald cross, and on a CJ Miller shot from in close off yet another cross, this time from the left side from Brett Reuben. The Charger's final goal was a converted penalty kick by Adam Green, his first goal of the season as well. Kudos to David Maydew, Grant Chapman, and Nick Noschese whose strong mid-field play help the CA side control the game

 Next up is Lourdes at home this Thursday!

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September 28, 2007
CA vs. North Raleigh Christian Academy  1 - 0

After losing its first game of the season Thursday, the Blue Team got back on track with a much stronger effort against NRCA yesterday. Encouraged by great fan support, the Chargers outplayed NRCA in the first half and took a 1-0 lead on a strong left footed shot by Josh Kennedy. The goal turned out to be the game winner. Despite quite a few good scoring opportunities, the Chargers could not put another in the back of the net. Those opportunities included two shots off the post and one off the cross bar by Josh. Defensively, CA was led by another excellent performance in goal by Jake Hammer. Adam, Connor, Ian and the two Erics also played solid soccer to deny NRCA good chances.

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September 27, 2007
CA vs. Ravenscroft   1 - 3

The Chargers suffered their first defeat of the season at the hands of an aggressive and eager Ravens team. Stellar goal keeping by Jake kept the Chargers in the game during a 0-0 first half as the Ravens outshot CA 14 to 1.  One minute into the second half CA grabbed a 1-0 lead on a terrific hustle play by Brett. He charged a Raven's defender, blocked a clearing pass, outran the defense to the loose ball, dribbled in alone on the keeper, and shot skillfully for the CA goal. Unfortunately, the Ravens continued to beat CA players to loose balls, pass nicely up and down the field, and shoot often. The result was 3 second half goals. The CA squad looks to rebound from its lethargic showing tomorrow against NRCA.

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September 20, 2007
CA @ Durham Academy   4 - 2

A feisty Durham Academy squad ended Cary Academy's run of four consecutive shut outs, but it couldn't stop the determined Chargers from registering their sixth consecutive victory. The Chargers got off to a 2-0 advantage off a great breakaway goal by Brett, who dribbled with strength from mid-field through the Cavalier defense and shot skillfully past the goalie, and an alert goal by Zac, his first of the year, as he outraced the keeper to the far post to nudge in a cross from Grant that had slid past the keeper. Unfortunately, with only 1 minute remaining in the first half, DA scored on a well-placed direct kick from 20 yards out. In the second half, with only one substitute at their disposal, the Chargers put aside DA's superior numbers and frustration over calls seeming to go against them and focused on playing good positional defense and better offensive passing. After DA tied the score on a terrific shot from the left flank, the Chargers went ahead with five minutes left on a Brett penalty kick and then got an insurance goal on a lofted shot by Josh.
David Maydew's assists on our 2nd and 4th goal. David's passing in the second half from a central midfield position was particularly strong!

Congratulations to the entire team for playing hard the entire game, focusing on playing good soccer, and coming out ahead.

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September 18, 2007
CA @ Magellan Charter School  3 - 0

 The Chargers prevailed 3-0 over a spirited Magellan squad that worked hard the entire game. Anchoring the defense for CA was a backline that included Adam, Ian, Connor, Grady, Eric F and Eric E. Though Magellan's forwards and midfielders made bursts into our goalie box throughout the game, our defense never allowed a strong shot. Credit also goes to our keeper, Jake, who pounced on a number of loose balls and gave up no rebounds. Scoring was a team effort: In the 16th minute Josh sent a through ball up the middle which Brett controlled about 40 yards out, dribbled on goal, and then sent a nice shot past the Magellan goalie when he came off his line. In the 47th minute CJ scored our 3rd goal in a similar fashion, but off a very nice one touch pass from Eric M. Our 2nd goal was a hard struck, low penalty kick from Andrew that gave the Magellan goalie no chance. Grant, Zac and David contributed strong midfield play throughout. One of my soccer tenets is that good teams score on 50% of their good scoring opportunities and great teams score on 66% or higher. The Chargers had four good opportunities and came away with 3 goals!!
Tomorrow the team gets a well deserved day off. Thursday travel to Durham Academy (team captains Andrew and Jake).

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September 12, 2007
CA @ Cary Christian School   6 - 0

After playing a good but scoreless first half, the Chargers exploded for six second half goals against a determined Cary Christian side. Brett Reuben scored our first three goals finishing breakaways skillfully on the first two and then with a determined dribble through a host of defenders on the third. Eric McDonald and Josh Kennedy then scored their first goals of the season for the Chargers and CJ Miller completed the scoring in the game's waning seconds. CJ, David Maydew and Grant Chapman contributed assists and the defense once again limited the opposition to only a few scoring opportunities. Congrats to the entire team and especially keeper Jake Hammer for their third consecutive shutout!

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September 10, 2007
CA @ North Raleigh Christian Academy  5 - 0

The Chargers came ready to play yesterday afternoon against conference rival NRCA as they scored goals in the opening 5 minutes of both halves. A strong defensive effort by Ian, Connor, Adam and Eric F. in a newly installed flatback four system limited NRCA to only two good scoring chances. Jake Hammer  stopped a breakaway shot which Adam then calmly cleared off the goal line and Jake made another excellent save on a blast from the left flank in the second half to secure the shutout. The Charger offense was outstanding throughout, massing 20 shots in a well coordinated attack. CJ registered another hat trick, Andrew scored on a beautiful shot from about 15 yards out into the upper right, and Brett scored on a breakaway with a well placed shot into the lower right. Eric M had a few strong shots as well and Zac, Grant, David and Imraan won many balls in the midfield to start the attack. Well done, Chargers!

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September 6, 2007
CA hosts East Wake Academy    9 - 0

The Chargers defeated an inexperienced East Wake Christian Academy squad 9-0 yesterday. Our team jumped out to an 8-0 first half lead as CJ Miller scored four goals. In the second half the Chargers gave players a chance to try different positions and Eric Eubanks scored the team's lone goal. Six different players put the ball in the back of the net:CJ Miller (4), Ian Brooks, David Maydew, Connor Dunleavy, Brett Reuben and Eric Eubanks. And six different Chargers tallied assists as well: Eric Eubanks, Josh Kennedy, CJ Miller, Brett Reuben, Grant Chapman, and Zac Wilson (2). The Chargers travel to North Raleigh Christian on Monday for their next game.                

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 August 30, 2007
CA hosts Magellan Charter School 2 - 1

The Boys MS Blue Soccer team had its season opener this afternoon against Magellan Charter. The Charger side christened its new home field with an exciting, hard fought 2-1 victory. After being denied on a shot from in close by a very skilled Magellan keeper, Brett Reuben opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a well struck left footed shot off a great pass from striker Eric McDonald. The score came just a few minutes after another well taken shot from the left side by David Maydew that just slid past the right post. The Chargers ended the first half up 1-0. The 2nd half saw the Magellan squad increase its work effort, and combined with some tired Charger mid-fielders and forwards, they began putting considerable pressure on the Charger defense. Jake Hammer made a leaping punch to deny a sure Magellan goal, but could not stop a Magellan forward who got behind the defense with 8 minutes remaining in the game. Led by the aggressive play of backs Andrew Park, Eric Fisher, Eric Eubanks and Ian Brooks, the Chargers continued to fend off Magellan attacks and then with two minutes remaining countered with a long pass to CJ Miller. CJ controlled the ball well, beat two defenders to gain entry into the right side of the goalie area, and was then taken as he dribbled by a thrid Magellan defender. Andrew Park calmly drilled the penalty shot past the Magellan keeper to earn the Chargers a 2-1 win.

Congratulations to the entire team on a great first game!