Boy’s Chatzi (Four Holy Cities) League
Play Hard
The first Hapoel Silver Spring “Play Hard” player of the week plays hard every week. Week in and week out he plays hard. He plays hard as a goalie. He plays hard as a defender. He plays hard all over the field. He also happens to be a big mensch and…he plays very hard. This week he held the offensive powerhouse of Team Tsfat to one goal and worked particularly hard. From Team Hevron, the first Hapoel Silver Spring S.C. “Play Hard” player of the week is…Naftali Simcha Swartz.
Despite Team Tsfat’s loss this week, two players for Team Tsfat played very hard. Quite frankly, this is no surprise to the Hapoel Silver Spring Soccer Club because they play hard every. Yaakov Rosen is the “engine” for Team Tsfat and works tirelessly in the midfield. You may be impressed by the 28 goals that Team Tsfat has scored thus far this season, but, be aware, that there is a player that is working very hard to feed the ball to Dovid Feldman and Akiva Singer so they can score these goals. This midfield engine is Yaakov Rosen. The second player for Team Tsfat is a critical key to Team Tsfat’s success. Whether he plays goalie or defense, Ari Byer is the heart of the Team Tsfat defense that has only conceded 6 goals thus far this season. The final two Hapoel Silver Spring S.C. “Play Hard” players of this week are from Team Tsfat and are…Yaakov Rosen and Ari Byer.
Past “Play Hard” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Zeke Melman (Team Hevron)
Week 2 – Shalom Sukol (Team Hevron)
Week 3 – Max Byer, Ariel Baron (Team Tsfat)
Week 4 – Elazar Reingold, Jason Kardon, Yoni Hawk (Team Yerushalayim)
Week 5 – Naftali Simcha Swartz (Team Hevron), Yaakov Rosen, Ari Byer (Team Tsfat)
Play Smart
The key to playing smart is playing as a team. And, one squad played particularly well as a team this week. This team was Team Tiveria. Instead of having all the players on the team swarming around the ball, Team Tiveria very smartly had each player play their position. And, despite only having 6 players for their game against Team Yerushalayim, they won 2-0. It was a fantastic effort. Offensively, Saadia Tuchman and Eli Bookstaber scored the goals for Team Tiveria and… both the goals were beautiful goals. In the midfield, Yoel Jaffe and Amir Klein worked tirelessly. In defense, Chaim Shlomo Komarow and Moshe Dovolsky held Team Yerushaliyim to 0 goals: a shut-out. For there 2-0 win and a great team effort, the player, who is the “Play Smart” player of the week is not a player, but a team…Team Tiveria: Yoel Jaffe, Chaim Shlolomo Komarow, Amir Klein, Saadia Tuchman, Eli Bookstaber, and Moshe Dovolsky.
Past “Play Smart” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Dovid Feldman (Team Tsfat)
Week 2 – Dovid Feldman, Akiva Singer (Team Tsfat)
Week 3 – Yisroel Mond (Team Hevron)
Week 4 – Eliezer Shames (Team Hevron)
Week 5 – Yoel Jaffe, Chaim Shlolomo Komarow, Amir Klein, Saadia Tuchman, Eli Bookstaber, and Moshe Dovolsky (Team Tiveria)
Be a Mensch
There are five Mensch players of the week this week. The first four are from Team Yerushalayim. It is much easier to play hard, play smart, and be mensch when your team wins every week. Especially to be a mensch. But, when your team loses its fifth straight game in a row, it is very difficult not to get frustrated. You may stop playing hard. You may stop playing smart. And, G-d forbid, you may stop being a mensch. Win or lose, Four players on Team Yerushalyim play hard, play smart, and are mensches every week for Team Yerushalayim. And, this week, these same four players demonstrated great self-discipline, great focus, and great middos despite their hard fought loss to Team Tiveria. The Hapoel Silver Spring Soccer Club is proud to have players of this character in our club and league. The first four Hapoel Silver Spring S.C. “Mensch” players of the week are, from Team Yerushalayim… Eli Bergman, Yossi Miller, Jason Kardon, and Matthew Kritz. It also bears mentioning that this is the second “Mensch” award given to Jason, Matthew, and Eli this season.
Team Hevron has 16 goals thus far this season. One player has ½ of them with 8 goals. This player also has an assist and plays very hard, very smart, and is a big mensch. This week, this player had a hat-trick (3 goals) in his Team’s upset over Team Tsfat. And, the part that just does not make sense…he is only in second grade!?! This player is the kind of player that you love to watch play and, G-d willing, we look forward to watching him play for many more years to come. The Fifth Hapoel Silver Spring S.C. “Mensch” player of the week this week is, from Team Hevron, a previous winner of this award in week 3,… Jonathan Galitzer.
Past “Mensch” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Reingold, Bergman, Rosenbloom, Kardon, Grunhaus, Hawk, Kritz (Team Yerushalayim)
Week 2 – Yisroel Teitelbaum, Saadia Tuchman (Team Tiveria)
Week 3 – Jonathan Galitzer (Team Hevron)
Week 4 – Amir Klein (Team Tiveria)
Week 5 – Eli Bergman, Yossi Miller, Jason Kardon, Matthew Kritz (Team Yerushalayim), Jonathan Galitzer (Team Hevron)
Scores, League Standings and Leading Scorers
Game Scores: Team Yerushalayim 0 – Team Tiveria 2
Team Tsfat 1 – Team Hevron 4
Win Loss Tie
Team Tsfat 4- 1- 0
Team Hevron 4- 1-0
Team Tiveria 2- 3- 0
Team Yerushalayim 0- 5- 0
Leading Scorers:
Dovid Feldman (Tsfat) 46 points 22 goals 2 assists
Jonathan Galitzer (Hevron) 17 points 8 goals 1 assists
Akiva Singer (Tsfat) 12 points 5 goals 2 assists
Zeke Melman (Hevron) 11 points 5 goals 1 assist
Saadia Tuchman (Tiveria) 5 points 2 goal 1 assists
Eli Bergman (Yerushalayim) 4 points 2 goals 0 assists
Yisroel Mond (Hevron) 4 points 1 goal 2 assist
Eliezer Shames (Hevron) 4 points 2 goals 0 assists
Eli Bookstaber (Tiveria) 3 point 1 goals 1 assist
Ariel Baron (Tsfat) 3 point 1 goals 1 assist
Amir Klein (Tiveria) 2 points 1 goal 0 assist
Yoel Jaffe (Tiveria) 1 point 0 goals 1 assist
Max Byer (Tsfat) 1 point 0 goals 1 assist
Yaakov Rosen (Tsfat) 1 point 0 goals 1 assist
Looking Forward to Week 6: The Last Regular Season Game
11:30 – Team Tsfat vs. Team Tiveria – Team Tiveria seems to have found their stride. Team Tsfat was beaten for the first time last week. Can Team Tiveria pull off the biggest upset of the season?.
11:30 – Team Yerushaliyim vs. Team Hevron – Team Hevron upset Team Tsfat this week. Can Team Yerushaliyim return the favor and hand Team Hevron an enormous upset?
Boy’s K’tana (Four Malochim) League
Play Hard
A player for Team Uriel shows up every week and, quite simply, just plays hard. He knows his job and does it with all his effort. Opposing teams and coaches know that he may not score lots of goals or get lots of assists, but…he is so dangerous as a player because he knows his job on the field for Team Uriel and he puts every ounce of his effort into doing his job well. This player, and the first Hapoel Silver Spring “Play Hard” Player of the week, is… Yosef Simcha Singer (Team Uriel).
Due to reasons beyond this player’s control, Team Rafael has been missing a critical player on their squad for a couple of weeks. Team Rafael did not realize how much they missed this player until he finally returned to play for them this week. He played offense. He played defense. He played goalie. He worked hard. From Team Rafael, this player, and the second Hapoel Silver Spring “Play Hard” Player of the week, is… Hirsch Milgraum (Team Rafael).
Past “Play Hard” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Avrohom Mond (Team Rafael)
Week 2 – Mendel Cohen (Team Michael)
Week 3 – Duvie Bergman (Team Uriel), Dovid Nachman Fisher (Team Gavriel)
Week 4 – Shmueli Mark (Team Rafael)
Week 5 – Hirsh Milgraum (Team Rafael), Yosef Simcha Singer (Team Uriel)
Play Smart
Last week, Team Gavriel almost pulled off the greatest upset in league history by nearly beating the undefeated Team Michael. Unfortunately, Team Gavriel were missing some critical players. This week, Team Gavriel played against an equally difficult opponent in Team Rafael. But, this week Team Gavriel had the same core players back from last week PLUS the addition of the players that were needed so badly last week. With a full squad, Team Gavriel demonstrated that they are a strong, strong team. They played beautifully AS A TEAM. Team Gavriel played very hard and very smart and tied Team Rafael. There are three Hapoel Silver Spring “Play Smart” Players of the week this week. Huda and Chaiby held a very strong Team Rafael offense to 0 goals, while Aviaad played some beautiful offensive soccer. These three players completed Team Gavriel this week and made them a great team. The Hapoel Silver Spring “Play Smart” Players of the week are… Huda Mendlowitz, Aviaad Grunhaus, and Chaiby Leiman.
Past “Play Smart” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Max Frankl (Team Michael)
Week 2 – Noah Horn (Team Michael)
Week 3 – Max Frankl, Noah Horn (Team Michael), Naftali Schwartz (Team Rafael)
Week 4 – Yonah Soskin (Team Uriel), Yaakov Singer (Team Michael), Yitzchok Singer (Team Michael)
Week 5 – Huda Mendlowitz, Aviaad Grunhaus, Chaiby Leiman (Team Gavriel)
Be a Mensch
There is one player on Team Uriel that is a nightmare for other team’s defenses. He is an enormously hard worker and he is very creative. He never gives up and he never stops trying to figure out a way to get past the other team’s defense to score a goal. And, this week was no different for this player. He had the second goal in Team Uriel’s loss to Team Michael and…He played hard. He played smart. And, he was a big mensch. This player from Team Uriel, and the first Hapoel Silver Spring “Mensch” Player of the week, is… Duvie Bergman.
This player does so many things so well, it is hard to start writing about him. The club will start by saying that the most impressive thing about this player is how humble a young man he is. He is an extremely special young man. Team Michael has 23 goals thus far this season. This player, with a tally of 8 goals, has over 1/3rd of these goals. Add to these 8 goals an assist and the hard work he demonstrates all over the fields and… This player is very talented. AND, he is so tznius about it. This is a very special young man. This week, he had his usual stellar performance. He had two goals in Team Michael’s 4-2 win over Team Uriel. He played hard. He played smart. And, he was a big mensch. This player, and the second Hapoel Silver Spring “Mensch” Player of the week, is… Robert Elenberg.
Past “Mensch” Players of the Week:
Week 1 – Yitzie Feldman (Team Gavriel)
Week 2 – Avi Pines, Simmy Ruchelman, Naftali Schwartz (Team Rafael)
Week 3 – Sammy Mellman (Team Uriel), Yizchok Singer (Team Michael)
Week 4 – A. Komarow, Yoni Jaffe, Y. Feldman, D.N. Fisher (Team Gavriel)
Week 5 – Duvie Bergman (Team Uriel), Robert Elenberg (Team Michael)
Scores, League Standings and Leading Scorers
Game Scores: Team Gavriel 0 – Team Rafael 0
Team Michael 4 – Team Uriel 2
Win Loss Tie
Team Michael 5- 0- 0
Team Rafael 3- 1- 1
Team Uriel 1- 4- 0
Team Gavriel 0- 4- 1
Leading Scorers:
Max Frankl (Michael) 22 points 9 goals 4 assists
Robert Ellenberg (Michael) 17 points 8 goals 1 assist
Noah Horn (Michael) 10 points 4 goals 2 assist
Yaakov Singer (Michael) 9 points 2 goal 5 assists
Naftali Schwartz (Rafael) 8 points 3 goals 2 assists
Sammy Mellman (Uriel) 8 points 4 goals 0 assists
Avrohom Mond (Rafael) 8 points 4 goals 0 assists
Duvie Bergman (Uriel) 6 points 2 goals 2 assists
Simmy Ruchelman (Rafael) 6 points 2 goals 2 assists
Avi Pines (Rafael) 5 points 0 goals 5 assists
Yonah Soskin (Uriel) 5 points 2 goal 1 assist
Yitzie Feldman (Gavriel) 4 points 2 goal 0 assists
Yitzchok Singer (Michael) 2 points 0 goals 2 assists
Meir Retter (Uriel) 1 point 0 goals 1 assist
Nathaniel Mayberg (Uriel) 1 point 0 goals 1 assist
Looking Forward to Week 6: The Last Regular Season Game
10:30 – Team Rafael vs. Team Michael – Will Team Michael finish the season undefeated? Team Rafael says, “No.”
10:30 – Team Uriel vs. Team Gavriel – Both Team Gavriel and Team Uriel have never played better. This is a great match-up. The winner of this game finishes the regular season in third place. The loser faces the powerful Team Michael in the first round of the play-offs.
