The Willimers in America

v East Brunswick Dragons

The Surge rounded off their season with a 2-0 home victory against East Brunswick Dragons at Stony Brook on Sunday 26th. Jimmy Wilson opened the scoring in the first half, finishing off a fine run and a through ball from Alex Van Stekelenborg. In the second half, a dangerous cross from Wilson was turned into his own goal by a Dragons defender. Surge dominated possession, with Matt Semple, Robbie Carrier, Tom Willimer and Johnny Weeks all strong at the back, but they were unable to convert this dominance into more goals. Aubrey Toland hit the post twice in quick succession in the second half, and Craig Persing and Jamey Cane shared the goalkeeping shut-out.

Surge finished the season with seven wins and only one defeat in their 10 regular season games, and were undefeated in their six tournament games.

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v South Plainfield Storm

On Sunday 19th, Surge travelled to the top rated South Plainfield Storm for the second time this season, hoping to improve on their previous 1-1 tie. Surge started well, with Ben Schragger latching onto a ball from Robbie Carrier to break away and score the opening goal. Johnny Weeks shot home the second off the crossbar, and Jimmy Wilson intercepted a goal-kick and shot home low and left to add a third. With Craig Persing keeping a clean sheet, Surge ran out 3-0 winners.

Spook-a-Rama Tournament

On Saturday 18th, Surge had a successful outing at the delayed Spook-a-Rama tournament at North Brunswick. The first game saw a comprehensive 4-0 victory against the West Windsor-Plainsboro Gladiators, with two goals from Craig Persing, and one each from Robbie Carrier and Kenny Smart. In their second game against Middleton Nationals, Jimmy Wilson came close with an effort from a corner, before Craig Persing tapped in a loose ball for the opening goal. Good work by Alex Van Stekelenborg set up another chance for Persing which came back off the post, before the Nationals equalised through a penalty kick.

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v Westfield Parana

Hopewell Surge returned to winning ways on Sunday with a 4-0 defeat of Westfield Parana. Surge dominated the game, scoring goals in each quarter. Jimmy Wilson opened the scoring with a strong shot after intercepting a goal-kick, then Robbie Carrier played in Alex Van Stekelenborg who finished a strong run with a fine shot. Kyle McCarthy saved Parana's best effort on goal in the first half, before strong running on the left wing by Johnny Weeks created several opportunities in the second half, including a goal for Weeks from Matt Semple's cross, followed by another for Van Stekelenborg from a Weeks through-ball.

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v West Orange Sharks

Hopewell Surge finally lost their unbeaten record on Sunday, going down to the West Orange Sharks by 2-1. Despite several great saves from Craig Persing in goal, and a well-taken equaliser by Johnny Weeks, the Surge defence found the strong, fast Sharks forwards hard to handle, and couldn't stop them scoring the match-winning goal with the last kick of the game.

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