Two undefeated girls U11 soccer teams played last weekend at Tudor Park, the home field of the Hicksville Tornadoes, who also happens to be unbeaten. The competition was fierce and in the end the Tornadoes had added two more wins to a great season.

It began Nov. 6, when undefeated conference co-leader Cold Spring Harbor invaded with a defense that only allowed a single goal through their first seven conference games. That would change as the Seahawks would see three balls cross their goal on this day. After Cold Spring scored midway through the first half the Tornadoes began to take control. With a minute remaining in the half, Meghan O'Reilly faked out two defenders and drilled a bullet into the right corner of the net.

The Tornadoes came out "storming" in the second half rarely allowing the visitors to penetrate the Hicksville end of the field. This was due to the tenacious midfield play of Krystal Ojeda and Katelyn Heuser. The two have stymied offensive threats all season and Saturday was no exception. Replacements, Stephanie Schara, Devin Dowd and Kate Muir provided quality relief for the two when called upon by shutting down the Seahawk attack.

Patricia Morizio and Diana Geneva each added a goal in the second half against the great Cold Spring defense. Diana and Patricia provided an assist for each other with precise passing. The defense played their usual strong game with Morgan Rubanow, Cynthia Baquero and especially Laura McNamara. Kaitlin Harvey showed her great versatility by contributing at fullback, midfield and halfback during the contest.

On Sunday the girls were asked to step it up in a "final 16" round game of the "State Cup" which began with 64 teams. The opponent, the Levittown Blue Angels, had not lost a game in two full seasons and were undefeated on top of Division 1 Nassau. The Blue Angels have developed a competitive rivalry with the Tornadoes despite the unbeaten streak with the three previous encounters ending in ties. This one could not as the State Cup, like the World Cup, must produce a victor.

Christine Smith picked a great time to play her best game of the season, intercepting passes all afternoon. On one, she sent a beautiful pass to the mid-line where Meghan O'Reilly sped past the defenders and blistered a shot to the right of the goal keeper to give the Tornadoes a 1-0 lead. The Blue Angels high scorer Leigh Anne Cummings countered for Levittown with a score to close the half in a deadlock. From that point on Marissa Foster was assigned the difficult task of shadowing their great player. She responded with great hustle, as Leigh Anne would score no more.

Levittown struck again at the beginning of the second half to lead 2-1. They held the lead as the game narrowed down to the final minutes. Then, Katelyn Heuser scored a dramatic goal on a breakaway, by perfectly lifting the ball over the goal keeper's head as she came out of the net to challenge. The ball rolled across the goal line as two defenders desperately dove at the net. As expected, regulation play ended in a 2-2 tie.

The first ten-minute overtime was scoreless with continued terrific defensive play by Cynthia Baquero. The pace picked up in the second overtime period as the tired girls fought gamely. Levittown put on a flurry of shots in the final minutes that Laura McNamara and Morgan Rubanow fought off. Sara Koumou then made a couple of acrobatic saves including a last minute spectacular diving save. After the save, the gutsy Tornadoes were not finished as they roared back and made a last ditch breakaway attempt. Meghan O'Reilly crossed a pass in the box to Patricia Morizio that she fired just inches from the left post as time expired.

Coach Eddie O'Reilly was so pleased with his team's performance going into the schootout. "The kids played like tigers for 80 minutes and were so nervous for the shootout! We just told each player to relax, have fun and enjoy the moment. You are winners no matter what happens." The Tornadoes were not surprised by a shoot-out because of their frequent ties with the Blue Angels. In fact, they had a rare Friday one-hour shoot-out practice to be ready for the likely possibility.

The first five players of each team alternated shots with Diana Geneva, and Patricia Morizio scoring to keep the goals tied at 2. When the fifth Blue Angel scored, it was up to a Morgan Rubanow to save the day and extend the game. She prevailed with a clutch corner shot sending the game to "sudden death." The first two shooters missed from each team. The Blue Angels then had a third miss. It was time for the goalkeeper Sara to take matters into her own hands. "I told Sara she would shoot eighth. I told her if that happens it would be time for her to get out of the net and go home. You have been in there over 80 minutes." Sara responded with a goal, and the "war" had finally ended. The Tornadoes advanced to the "elite eight" of the State Cup.

The coach credits the exceptional team progress this year to the skillful, dedicated training from Marciel Parra and Peppy Ancantar. In addition to the great trainers, assistant coach Jim Koumou, the active parent participation has been instrumental to the success of the program. Mark Rubanow has reached out to the caring community merchants and without them we would not be in this position today. Our thanks to all, especially the very special players. It was a wild winning weekend!