On Sunday, March 20, FC Teaneck Thunder won the U14 division at the Spring 2016 Northern Counties Pre-Season Tournament held at the Waldwick Superdome. The tournament, which bridges the winter indoor season and the spring outdoor season, featured teams that will be participating in the Northern Counties Soccer Association (NCSA) spring season. NCSA is one of the country’s largest soccer leagues, featuring over 1,100 teams. The tournament, with a 7-v-7 format, was played on the artificial turf fields in the indoor dome in Waldwick.

After a tight 3-1 opening game victory against World Class FC (WCFC) of Orangeburg, New York, the Thunder then lost a close 3-1 game to the higher-ranked Warriors SC of Waldwick, New Jersey. A dominating 6-0 victory over Tenafly United SC placed the Thunder in a championship game rematch against the Warriors SC. The Thunder opened up with a quick 3-0 lead and cruised to the championship with a 3-1 victory. The team was paced on offense by Zali Tollinsky, Tuvia Levine, Diego Corleto, Manny Nagel and Tal Kamara, with Gabriel Einhorn and Natan Rifkind manning the midfield. The stalwart defense was led by Daniel Becker, Zachary Wolf, Sam Lehrer, Dylan Grimes and Menachem Kravetz. Ben Shore was team MVP with stout efforts in goal across all four games.

FC Teaneck is the travel club soccer division of Teaneck Junior Soccer League (TJSL) for Teaneck residents six to 18 years of age that are looking for a competitive, year-round soccer experience and currently has almost 20 teams for boys and girls.

By Daniel Wolf