The Farmingdale PAL Spirit, playing in the Long Island Senior Club Girls Youth Lacrosse League (LISGYLL) for seventh and eighth grade girls, won their home and season opener on Saturday against Plainedge, 15-7.

The Spirit defense was led by defenders Brittany White, Amanda Dorsey, and goalkeeper Brenna Dugan. White was relentless in denying the Plainedge attackers access inside the Farmingdale eight meter arc while Dorsey played very good down low defense successfully doubling the ball numerous times. Dugan made 12 saves to ensure the Farmingdale victory and frequently made good breakout passes to start the swift Farmingdale transitions.

The Spirit scoring was led by Kristin Jones, who while playing first home with a broken toe, scored six goals with one assist. Jenna Block was the next highest scorer with four goals and one assist, Alyssa Dorsey had three goals, and Jillian Cerar had two goals and one assist. The Spirit led at halftime nine to three.

Center Candace Rossi, attack wing Shannon Haas, and defense wing Tara Gangarossa played superbly in the midfield controlling the ball offensively and defensively while making a number of good shots on goal each. They transitioned the ball consistently into the Plainedge end while helping deny Plainedge attackers the Farmingdale goal with solid defensive doubling. First home Katie Wood also had some good shots on goal and Carolyn Psillos did a great job controlling the ball behind the Plainedge net. The team played without any subs and coaches Joe Fanning, George Psillos, and Meg Fanning were extremely pleased with the hustle and effort of the girls.

In what turned out to be a highly competitive defensive game, the Farmingdale PAL seventh grade LISGYLL White team defeated Rockville Centre by a score of 6 to 5. Farmingdale's defensive was sparked by goalie Samantha Elie who recorded nine saves. Elie received quite a bit of help on defense by Brianna Birney, Allison Laudage, and Alyssa Kildare who combined to stop Rockville Centre's offensive charges on numerous occassions.

Farmingdale's offense was led by rookie Jessie Wadsworth who tallied four goals. Jackie Gunn, and the birthday girl, Lauren Principato, also added to the Farmingdale offensive effort scoring goals with assists from Lauren Broten and Liz Edwards.

Next week this team travels to Northport for what should be another tough game. The coaches are hoping that the "TOAD" will finally step up and show everyone her game.

The PAL sixth grade girls opened the 2003 season with an impressive 9-5 victory over Rockville Centre. It was a very cold day but the Farmingdale girls were burning on the field. Joan Buczkowski led the girls attack with 3 goals and 2 assists and also added outstanding field leadership for her teammates. Jamie McPartland added 2 goals and Janine Hillier and Tara Coyle each added a goal and an assist. Jackie Mazza add a goal on a free position shot. Michele Kuchinskas, Regina Bates, Brittany Hushion, Kayla Mueger and Lauren Maksym were all credited with one assist apiece. Lauren Maksym and Emily Fugarazzo shared the time in goal and were both outstanding stopping numerous point blank shots.

The girls welcomed three new teammates this year. Lauren Incarnato, Sam Vitale, and Michele Kuchinskas who impressed their coaches and teammates with their outstanding hustle and determined play; they are fine additions to an already outstanding team.

Fine efforts were turned in offensively by Katie Wong, Victoria Finocchiaro and Shea Macagnone who all had shots on goal but were turned away by an outstanding goalie from Rockville Centre. As always Briana Lively and Lindsay Hoglund gave outstanding efforts at both ends of the field as their coaches ask these girls to play every position on the field except goalie, but goalie is always an option as these girls do whatever is asked of them without complaint.

The girls' next game is home against longtime rival Seaford. This should be an exciting game as both teams have enjoyed success the past several years and they know each other very well.

The Farmingdale PAL fifth grade Forest Green team raced out to an early 5-1 lead and never looked back defeating Massapequa 8-4 in the season opener for both teams. Sarah Mulcahy opened the scoring off a pass from Lauren Connors minutes into the game. As the offensive pressure continued, Melanie Raso scored (2 goals in game) and Alexis Rzempoluch (2 goals) followed suit to keep the girls ahead. Hannah Le Tourneau and Allison Lindblad contributed to the effort with solid ground ball play as Sarah and Ellie Boltja reinforced the offensive with good hustle.

As the offense continued to be effective, the defensive effort was outstanding. Brianna Kane, Alexa Musorofiti, Michelle Mellina and Fiona Grubb provided the much needed support defensively as Cara Fellin, Toni Roulet and Amy Neuburger anchored the "D." Megan Planz made 3 first half saves and then made her field debut in the second half as Jackie Sonnenschain took over in goal and recorded 2 saves.

Jordan Hasemann (2 goals) and Samantha Smith rounded out the scoring sealing Farmingdale's victory. Congratulations to the girls on their first victory of the season! Good luck next week as the girls play West Islip in a noon start at East Memorial.

The Farmingdale fifth grade girls Kelly Green team, coached by Keith Murphy and Lou Cardillo, opened the season with a hard fought loss against West Islip by the score of 10-7. The Farmingdale girls put forth a great effort in their first game of the season.

Lisa Duddy making her debut in goal was awesome with nine saves to her credit. The defense, anchored by Megan Ryan, Emily Todd (1 assist), Amanda Coakley, and Taryn Boyle (1 assist) all played solid the entire game.

The attack of Kelly Gzinic, Julianne Littell, Sophie Anastasiadas, Jackie Lore, Kaitlyn McCrystal (1 assist), Alexandra Pyros, Samantha Spadaro, and Sarena Volante (1 assist) all worked hard on every ground ball opportunity to gain possession for Farmingdale.

The Farmingdale scoring was led by Katie Murphy and Vanessa Amezquita with three goals each. Alyssa Cardillo also scored one goal and Jamie Hart, Allison Gallagher, and first year player Stephanie Rice each had an assist. The offense, as a unit, played extremely well taking 18 shots with three disallowed goals due to various infractions. The coaches were extremely proud of every girl's effort on the field and are looking forward to next week's game against Port Washington.

The Farmingdale PAL third grade girls lacrosse team, 'The Hurricanes,' started their season this past Sunday in Long Beach with a 4-3 victory. On a freezing cold day, the girls played a great game. The two goalies, Stephanie LoCastro and Nicole Sc imeca, played fantastic recording four saves each. Samantha Duranti opened up the scoring with the first two goals of the game, while Justine Fernandez and Nicole Scimeca each added a goal. The defense played strong led by Alex Mosiello, Gina Ramos, Brittany Barton, Debbie Johnson, Emily Glascott, Jennifer Labas and Haley Eivers. Between the lines play, getting the ground balls, was controlled by Colleen Reynolds, Amanda Rutig, Megan Sullivan, Kelly Slane, Kimberly Kolodny, Alexis Irby, Alicia Baccarella, Kaitlin Gaghan, Charlotte Edwards and Tara Grzinic. A great team effort by all the girls contributed to the victory for the Hurricanes.