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Fall 2009

Callan Elswick and her Davidson University team advanced to the NCAA Tournament by beating College of Charleston (Morgan Benz). Callan led her squad on shot% and finished fourth in points. Davidson fell to South Carolina in the first round. College of Charleston fell to Davidson in the SoCon Final. Morgan had a big goal to help College of Charleston advance to the finals. Betsy Kwiatkowski was named to her Conference first team for the 3rd straight year! Betsy was a key reason that Lynchburg college advanced to the final four in the Div III NCAA tournament. Lynchburg lost on PKs to Washington University in St Louis. Marika had another exceptional year at Va Tech and helped advance Va Tech to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament. Marika is ranked first in game winning goals, including her regular-season game winning goal against the eventual National Champions, UNC. Both Marika and Kristi played in the season finale against Portland. Evan Feldman was named as team Captain for the 2010 George Mason squad. Senior Sam Stocker playing at Univ of South Alabama finishes her collegiate career by being named to the Scholar All-Region team. Michaeline continues to participate well in her second best sport, running a 2:13 800m and running a 23 minute 6K at the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country meet.

2008

The team entered State Cup and will roster several outstanding collegiate players, including Lauren Kaiser and Betsy Kwiatkowski from LMV Patriots, Mary Carter Jacocks and Leigh Van Lear from Vista United, and Laquinta Garrett from SWYA Freedom. Jill King (Isis) and Evan Feldman (Majestics) both joined the team last year. The team already has four stars from the powerhouse '87 Sterling Pride squad.

2007

Marika was selected for the U.S. under 20 National team. She led the ACC in scoring in the Fall. Morgan missed the first couple games because of a knee injury she suffered in the High School state championship. After the first couple games, Morgan played almost every minute for College of Charleston. Callan was a dominant player for Davidson. Sam set the scoring record as a freshman at South Alabama but had fewer minutes in the early season because of a sprained ankle. Alex was featured in a news release for her great play at Radford. Michaeline chose track instead of soccer and is running great times at Brown. Jill's picture was featured on the Syracuse soccer page, but she switched to club as did Gretchen. Coles and Danila also played club at JMU.

Fall 2006

The team welcomes several new stars to the roster. Super athlete, Taylor Johnson, All-Met and State Team honorable mention, joins the Galaxy this season. The Galaxy also has added Alex Traughber, goalkeeper, from the powerhouse Sterling Pride squad. She is the fourth '88 Pride player to join the Galaxy this year. The team also added Jill King from Bethesda. Irish Premier star defender Collin Vint, believes Jill is one of the best players he has ever seen. The Galaxy will play WAGS Div 1 in the fall and the following tournaments: Toys for Tots, WAGS, State Cup, VCCL, and Bethesda.

Summer 2006

Tryouts will be held on Wednesday, June 7th and Friday, June 9th at South Run Park, 5:30p to 7:00p, and at Greensprings Village Field, Monday, June 19, 6:00 to 7:30. For all tryouts, if it rains, please check the team hotline: (703) 912-1621. For more details, please check the Fields/Contacts page. Coach Joe has created a U.S. Club Soccer summer team, Nova Premier Galaxy for players who are interested in playing soccer this summer. The summer team will play at June 24-26 at Fort Dix, N.J. and July 27-29th at the Score at the Shore Tournament. Any player interested in summer soccer should contact Coach Joe, 703-428-1818. The roster and results from the Club Soccer summer tournaments will be placed on a different website.

Spring 2006

The Galaxy adds two Juniors from The Sterling Pride. The Pride completed their 8 year run in WAGS with Division 1 Championships in both 2005 seasons. Michaeline Nelson and Callan Elswick are Juniors who have super speed and skill. They will bring incredible talent to the squad.

Galaxy players have already made a huge impact in the high school leagues. At the time of this input, the following players had received District Recognition: Becca Grady, Jenny Taylor, Gretchen Wendlberger, Sam Stocker, Brittany Owens, Marika Gray (District Player of the Year), and Kelsey Worth. Marika was named to the first team All-Met. Throughout the season there were numerous highlights: Marika scored in 25 consecutive games. Not counting her goals from Memorial Day weekend, Marika had 58 goals in 31 games (16 high school and 15 club) this season. She had all three goals for Hayfield in their 3-2 win over Annandale. She scored the only goal in two 1-0 wins over Edison and South County High Schools, and scored the lone goal for Hayfield High School in their game against highly rated Chantilly High School. Morgan Benz (Centreville) who is likely to lead Centreville to the state championship, had a six game goal-scoring streak. Sam Stocker scored a goal for Annandale in their 3-2 loss against Marika's squad and scored the winning goal in Annandale's 1-0 win over Edison. Becca scored in South County's 2-2 against Lee and scored several goals in South County's win over District finalist West Potomac.

Team Rankings. GotSoccer, Soccer in College (USA Rank), and National Soccer Rankings list Galaxy as third, fourth, and fifth respectively. The Soccer In College rankings allows teams to post information to their site. See http://www.clubsoccer.us/team.aspx?mysite=VAF89032

Fall 2006

The team added Betsy Kwiatkowski for the season and Kelsey Worth (Puerto-Rican National team) to the roster. Speedster Liz Gartzke (4.5 40yd dash) will be sitting out most of the year because she was accepted into the U.S. Congress Page School -- students attend class early mornings and some Saturdays, then work as Congressional Pages during the work day.

Summer 2005

Tryouts: SYC requires open tryouts once a year, in June. Click on the 'Contact' link for more information.

Spring 2005. The team is playing in WAGS this Spring. Division 1 consists of 5 Maryland teams and SYC Galaxy. Most of the players play varsity high school soccer. Congrats to Marika for her recognition in an article in the Apr 20th Examiner Sports section (p.60). Marika has 9 goals and 4 assists in the first 8 games for #4 ranked Hayfield. Congrats also to Jenny Taylor who scored the lone goal in (then #1 ranked) W. Springfield's 1-0 victory over Langley.

Winter 2005. The Galaxy had a great winter season. Marika Gray scored two goals and added two assists as Galaxy defeated third ranked Roanoke Star in the VCCL College Showcase, 5-0. Marika is exceptionally fast and strong. She joined Galaxy in late 2004 and is reknowned for her play with LMVSC and Team America. Galaxy walked away with 2 indoor Championships. The team won every game in both the Fairfax Sportsplex Indoor High School League and the Dulles Sportsplex Premier League. The Galaxy has a 52-2-1 indoor record since 2001 when Coach Joe modified the emphasis on footskills and speed of play. That same year, the Galaxy hired Bill Creswick and Bobby Garza to reinforce those skills.

Fall 2004. Galaxy added Eleni Katsiotis and welcomed Morgan Benz back. Eleni was the number one player on the U-17 Storm. Morgan is one of the top skill players in the State. Galaxy finished the season with a disappointing 4-4-1 record. The team had a streak of 17 WAGS games with only one loss, but then lost 4 in a row because of five key injuries. Fortunately, the entire team was injury free by the end of the season.

Summer 2004: 3 important news items:

Tryouts: SYC requires open tryouts prior to each Fall season. Tryouts for the U-16 seasons will be held June 8, 10, and 14. All sessions will begin at 5:30 p.m. The June 8 (Tues) and June 10 (Thurs) sessions will be held at Lee High School. The Monday, June 14 session will be held at South Run.

Summer League: The Galaxy will play in the MAPS summer league. To accommodate summer vacation plans, the team will merge with the U-16 WAGS Div 1 runner-up champions, STER Pride. The combined team will be called Nova Premier and will play at the U-16 level. Nova Premier will be coached by Mark Brotherton, a former professional player and coach of the Pride. Coach Wendlberger and Leigh Banting will be assistants and Tung Nugyen will be the trainer.

Website: The team will have a new website in the upcoming year which will feature individual pages for each player and more photos.

Spring 2004: Galaxy will be playing in Division 1 with two strong players returning to their roster, Becca Grady and Betsy Kwiatkowski. Becca Grady was the leading scorer from Div 1 BRYC United team. Betsy Kwiatkowski is a many time selectee to the '88 ODP state team and was a member of the 9-0 Galaxy Spr 02 squad. Morgan Benz will be sitting out the season. Congrats to all players for their high school selections. Every player was selected for varsity except those attending the soccer powerhouses--West Springfield and Hayfield. Hayfield was tough because 13 freshmen have played Div 1 WAGS soccer; notably, 2 of the 3 freshmen who were selected to varsity are from the Galaxy.

Winter 2004: Galaxy completed the Fall 2003 season with 6 straight victories. Galaxy had two early losses in games that followed State Cup games. The loss following the overtime state cup game was tough because our prior four match-ups against that opponent had been shut-out victories for the Galaxy (3-0, 4-0, 2-0, and 3-0). State Cup is a difficult distraction. In the round of 32 State Cup games held on Sep 6th, WAGS teams were 7-3 in State Cup, but only 1 of the 7 winning teams won their league game on the following day, Sept 7th.

State Cup: Galaxy defeated Charlottesville 6-2 in the first game. In the second game, Galaxy lost 9-8 to BRYC Courage on PK's. The 9-8 loss was a disappointment as the team led 1-0 in the first half and the win seemed imminent as the half went into the 43rd minute (supposed to be 40 minutes, absent injuries or delay). A square pass and a couple defensive lunges in the last seconds allowed BRYC to tie. In overtime, the Galaxy seemed sure to win with pressure the entire thirty minutes; the BRYC goalie, Alex Traughber, stopped two 1 v 1's to goal and agressively defended corner kicks. On one occasion Sam beat Alex and chipped to an open goal. A Courage fullback, Callan Elswick, made a spectacular clearing header. Overtime ended as the sun was setting with a 1-1 tie. BRYC Courage were brilliant on PK's winning 9-8.

For the fall, the Galaxy initiated a Player of the Match award. To avoid favoritism or bias, the selection will be made by the coach of the opposing team. If an independent evaluator attends a game, they will also be asked to nominate a player of the match. Players recognized for this award will be named on the Schedule/Results page. The WAGS Division structure shows that Galaxy will play in Division 2 in the Fall. This is the result of their four losses in the Spring (all by one goal). The lesson that the team will take from last Spring is that they must play to the final whistle. Three times the Galaxy held leads in the final minute of play but finished with ties.

The Galaxy welcomes three outstanding soccer players to our fall roster: Angie Rey, Liz Gartzke, and Jen Foltz. Angie Rey is a super athlete who started varsity as a Freshman for Annandale High School. Liz Gartzke started varsity for her high school (Private school state champions). Jen Foltz is an excellent goalie who was selected for the ODP squad. It's great to have all three players on the squad.

The Galaxy bids farewell to two players and their families who made huge contributions to the team. Caitlyn Hicks will play closer to her home. Every player will miss her friendly personality and charm. The team will miss her powerful shot. Her father has been an assistant coach and contributed to every part of the program. Becca Grady is a super athlete who will also be missed. Her parents provided herculean contributions to programs off the field, including the team ski trip and the college coach profile book for college colleges who attend the Virginian Soccer Tournament.

Team tryouts will be ongoing through the summer. Because of rain, the 4:30 p.m. June 12th tryout at South Run has been rescheduled for Thursday, June 19th at South Run 4:30 p.m. Hank Leung will conduct the Thursday session and will include a scrimmage against the highly regarded BRYC Attack (First place WAGS Div 1 U16 Fall). See the Field Directions page for directions and additional information.

Winter 2002: Welcome to Hank Leung who has joined the training staff. Hank's successes are legendary, both nationally and within the club. He has coached one team to the NCAA Collegiate Soccer Title. Within the club he recently led the U-15 SYC Spirit to a State Cup Championship. The Galaxy will practice three days per week; two days with Hank.

Congratulations to the Galaxy players for their promotion to Division 1. Clearly the result of hard work. Many thanks are owed to the exceptional work of the team trainers, Bobby Garza and Bill Creswick. Special thanks to Jim Givargis for his vigorous summer camp and individual training throughout the year. Thanks to AJ Wood and Chris Godart for their training during the summer. !

Congratulations to Sam for her selection to the Varsity squad at Annandale H.S. Annandale plays in the Patriot League which is one of the toughest leagues in Virginia. Congratulations to Heather Mandela for her selection to Varsity as an eighth grader. Heather scored two goals in the State Championship. The Galaxy bids farewell to Shelly Presley who will move to the U-13 SYC Speed to play midfield. Shelly played fullback for the SYC Galaxy and was an essential part of the Galaxy squad that allowed only one goal in an entire WAGS season. !

Winter 2002: Congratulations to Loralyn for her selection, as a freshman, to the varsity squad of one of California's top high school teams!

Summer 2002: The Galaxy welcomes four outstanding soccer players to our fall roster: Becca Grady, Katie Barber, Coles Ide, and Samantha Stocker. Becca was the leading scorer for the SYC Astros each of the past two seasons. Katie is an excellent defender from Annandale. Coles is a strong defender and an original SYC Galaxy member who left to dedicate more time to swimming; she played U-14 last season. Samantha Stocker formerly played with Annandale and the U-15 SYC Spirit (U15 State Cup champs). She was clearly one of the top players to play against the Galaxy each of the last three seasons. It's great to have her on our side!

The Galaxy bids farewell to four players who made their mark over the past year. Loralyn Dewitt (leading scorer in fall tournaments), Katie Fortier (leading scorer in spring tournaments), Betsy Kwiatkowski (superb possession player who added goals and assists) and Casey Marriott (excellent and fearless defender; scored PK in first game).

May 2002: The Galaxy holds open tryouts each year in early June. Times and locations of tryouts will be placed on the club website at www.syctravelsoccer.com and on the team hotline during the first two weeks of June. Hotline: (703) 912-1621. Questions about the team can be sent to jwendlberger@cox.net. Requests for tryouts during the season can be sent to the same e-mail address.

Jan 2002: The Galaxy record thus far reflects they are a solid Division 2 team. In the past three years, the team twice came one victory from going to Division 1. In Fall 2001 the team had a string of unlucky second half breaks that caused the team to drop to Division 3 for the spring. Also going down were Chantilly and Annandale. With the emphasis spent on training during the past year we expect to return to Division 2 in the Fall. The team went undefeated in both indoor leagues and expects similar results in our outdoor season this spring.

June 2001: Chris Godart has moved to the west side of town to coach the Westfield Bulldogs. Chris was instrumental in creating the SYC Galaxy and their spirit. He will be truly missed. Our former assistant coach Erin Wright has headed West also to coach the Westfield JV. She will be the Asst Coach for the Vienna Panthers. Welcome to Bobby Garza from Hayfield High who will be the team's trainer. Chris Godart, Bill Creswick (Robinson High), and A.J. Wood (D.C. United) will continue to have a role in the training program. We sadly say goodbye and wish them all the best.

Mistakes: "If you don't make mistakes, you're not pushing the envelope." -- JW "Nothing is wrong with making mistakes -- as long as you don't keep making the same ones. A mistake is a lesson on its way to being learned. "Experience" is the name we give to our mistakes. When you slip up, learn from it." -- Frank Stewart

More team information: http://www.clubsoccer.us/team.aspx?mysite=VAF89032