After a gallant effort, the North Shore varsity football team lost to Manhasset High School on Saturday night. The Vikings defense, led by Joe Denovellis, Peter Volpe and Erik Swenson, kept the Manhasset running game shut down for most of the game. On offense, Taylor McGrath led the running attack behind the blocking of fullback Craig DeMeo and Rich Blount. McGrath had the Vikings only touchdown when he dashed into the end zone in the first quarter. Rob Grabher had the extra point. The game will be televised on Monday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. on Channel 18. The women's cross-country team took its annual trip to the Brown Cross-Country Invitational in Warwick, RI. Once again, rain and mud was the theme of the weekend. Just like a year ago, a deluge hit the night before, dampening the course but not the spirits of the team. The team performed well, finishing second out of the 30-team field. Leading the way was sophomore Brianna Welch, finishing first out of the 200-person field. Other personal bests were run by senior Kristen Zaleskie, juniors Thea Lange and Marissa Dussel, and sophomore Heather Magnuson. Next week the team will be competing at in the conference championships at Bethpage State Park.

With one game left in the regular season, it seems that the Vikings will not win their conference championship as they suffered their second loss of the season to Roosevelt by a score of 2-1. Tucker Morgan was simply brilliant in goal and kept his team in the game with one big save after another. Zach Venditto had the unenviable task of man-marking Roosevelt's leading scorer and he successfully shut him down. It was a closely contested game with North Shore being robbed on the goal line by Roosevelt's goalie in the closing seconds. This coupled with a loss to Carle Place two days earlier by a score of 2-0 makes it mathematically impossible to catch them.

Earlier in the week, in a must-win situation with Plainedge which would decide second place and a play-off berth, the Vikings came up big with a 4-1 victory. Goals were scored by Chris Frey, Andrew Lazarow, Peter Filippi and Robbie Grabher. Coach Hintz felt this was the best team game of the season as everyone contributed with maximum effort. On Friday, North Shore played a rainout makeup game with Division and came through with yet another big win by a score of 5-1. Goals were scored by Eduardo Ramirez, Chris Frey, Peter Filippi, Jon Pavlica and Robbie Grabher. With the scored tied 1-1 at the half, Jon Pavlica started the second half and in a matter of minutes set up a goal and then scored another to help inspire North Shore to take over the momentum and rally to win the game easily. With one game remaining, the magic number for a playoff spot is one. One good point for the Vikings or one bad point for Plainedge means the North Shore men's soccer team will be in post-season competition for the first time in many years.

The varsity volleyball team played a tough match against first-place South Side on Thursday. After losing the first two games, the girls put it together and won the third and fourth games, forcing the deciding fifth game. After a hard fought battle in game five, the girls came up just short of victory, losing the deciding game 25 - 22. Strong play by Allison O'Connell (17 kills, 4 blocks), Kristen McCormack and Danielle Dweck combined for 37 assists and Kelly Small rounded out the offense with 8 kills and 2 aces. Excellent defense was exhibited by Biff Tierney, Lauren Pearsall and Dominique Corrozzo. Although the end result was a loss, the team displayed its strong desire and teamwork.

Throughout the season the team has been faced with injuries and difficult game situations; each time the girls have stepped up and shown how tough they can be. Strong play from Kiki Palazzo, Dominique Troy and Nina Zezulin have kept the team going after each injury or situation they have faced, stepping up when it counted most, not only by play, but leadership as well. It is a tribute to the Viking athletic program and shows how they never give up and fight to the finish in each game played.

The season continues next week with games at Lynbrook, home vs. Great Neck North and at Bethpage. The team invites all to come down on Oct. 29 for its last home game of the season vs. Oyster Bay. It is also Senior Day.