To all travel and intramural coaches: You will be receiving the permits to the fields sometime this week. No one should be practicing unless they have a permit on them. All of the permits start on March 1. Please help us by following the rules, and good luck this season!

The White and Blue Lady Pumas faced serious competition on tight space, but they both managed a respectful 2-2-1 record in their brackets.

The White team that captured second place had on it Sabrina, a refined finisher - seven goals - with Alex (1), Teri (1) and Puja's precious help on the wings. Rosemary and Madelyn formed a rock-solid defensive barrier, while Jessica showed her versatility. Allison, with a few terrific saves, was brilliant in goal, keeping the team in all the games!

Although they recorded the same seven points as the White team, those were only good for third place for the Blue team's bracket. Meghan with three goals led the offense with Evelin and Ai providing assists. Liz was enormous in her offensive/defensive role. Monika and Tracie made their mark on defense, under Laurie's superb command in goal. Maria showed her great team's spirit, coming out, injured, to cheer the teammates!

Congratulations for a job well done, girls!

The scores:

Lady Pumas 0 - Port Washington 1

Lady Pumas 3 - Glen Cove 1

Lady Pumas 1 - Lynbrook 1

Lady Pumas 4 - East Meadow 0

Lady Pumas 1 - Brentwood 2

Lady Pumas 0 - Farmingdale 1

Lady Pumas 0 - Lynbrook 0

Lady Pumas 1 - Auburndale 0

Lady Pumas 0 - Plainedge 1

Lady Pumas 2 - Huntington 0

Girls U-8

NHP 0 - Bayshore Hot Shots 1

An exciting opening game for the NHP Puddytats. Fantastic goalkeeping by Erica Southern helped keep the game close. Emily Domb and Olivia Peros applied offensive pressure but didn't get that break we needed. Defensively, Kelcey Zacarese and Stacey Wood played very well making many good kick-ins.

NHP 0 - West Islip Killers 2

Another exciting game for both teams. Jennifer Fox was outstanding in goal for us. She was helped out defensively by Emily Domb and Kelcey Zacarese. The offensive standouts were Stacey Wood and Kathy Gaulotuna.

NHP 1 - East Islip Hammer Heads 3

Olivia Peros played an exciting game in goal, helping to keep us in the game. Kathy Gualotuna helped her by playing a tough defensive game. A hustling Kelcey Zacarese setup Erica Southern for the Puddytats first goal. Jennifer Fox also had a good game at forward.

NHP 2 - East Islip Roaring Thunder 1

Kathy Gualotuna played fantastic in goal, leading the Puddytats to their first victory. Stacey Wood and Jennifer Fox helped defensively by keeping the ball out of our end. Kelcey Zacarese setup Erica Southern's goal and Emily Domb setup Olivia Peros's goal.

The caliber of play at this tournament was excellent. We played four very challenging games which tested our skills. The coaches are proud of all players for their tremendous effort. Special thanks to the parents, for their time and devotion to the NHP Wildcats.

On Jan. 9, the NHP Sabercats stormed into East Meadow at the crack of dawn. Playing in front of huge crowds at Nassau Community College, playing the first game at 6:30 a.m., playing in their first indoor tourney of the winter season, all didn't seem to matter. The Sabercats went undefeated and only gave up one goal. Tournament MVP Maiken Bursig said, "The whole team should have gotten the MVP award." Congratulations to Maiken, Kristin, Courtney, Alison, Christina C., Danielle, Nicole, Stefanie and Christina B. Great job! On Sunday, Jan. 24 NHP Sabercats started the day with the first game at 7:30 a.m. Levittown came out strong scoring on a high bouncing shot just under the cross-bar. The Sabercats then started to play their game, defense, not allowing another scoring chance. NHP couldn't find the back of the net either, 0 - 1 final. The Sabercats beat Island Trees 1 - 0, and East Meadow 3 - 0, and with 18 seconds remaining the Sabercats were struck down by the mighty Oceanside squad 1 - 0. Great effort Sabercats Courtney, Kristin, Danielle, Nicole, Jessica, Michaela, Alison, Laura and Stefanie.

Congatulations to Jules Abel, Nicole Daly, Lauren Ernst, Jen Gonzalez, Katie Heller, Meg Kennedy, Dayna Obidienzo and Brittany Schenke on a very strong finish and great team effort.

Game 1: Lost 1 - 0 (POB Orange)

Tough start for NHP. Brit, Jules & Jen dominated defensively and Katie was awesome in goal. Late in the game, POB snuck one in at the post.

Game 2: Tie 0 - 0 (East Meadow)

Another defensive duel. Lauren secured the shutout in goal behind the defensive duo of Brit and Jules. Nicole, Dayna and Meg kept East Meadow's defense and goalie on their toes.

Game 3: Lost 1 - 0 (Dix Hills)

Jules played flawless in goal - the lone goal a fluke as Jules' sliding save landed her over the line into the net. Katie, Lauren and Meg had several nice shots on goal.

Game 4: Won 2 - 0 (East Islip)

NHP exploded with life as Dayna and Jules fired back to back goals. Jen's aggressive midfield play kept the ball in their end. Despite being "under the weather," Nicole was a trooper, playing tough defense. Katie's key saves secured the shutout.

Game 5: Won 1 - 0 (Brentwood)

Another explosive game behind Brit's and Nicole's spectacular defense and Meg's midfield play. Dayna scored the lone goal off a rebound while Jen and Lauren had several key shots on goal.

The U-7 girls showed superior skills and excellent teamwork while winning the East Meadow indoor tournament in impressive fashion.

Game 1

NHP 0 - East Meadow 0

The girls seemed to be unsure of themselves due to different rules than they are used to playing with. Despite that, the girls played nearly the entire game in the East Meadow end. Kelcey Zacarese and Joanna Dombal had quality shots on goal but East Meadow goalie came up big.

Game 2

NHP 2 - Massapequa 0

Emily Domb controlled the entire midfield which led to many scoring chances. Deanna Canella picked off a goal kick and alertly blasted a winner for the first goal. The second came on a nice corner throw from Kelcey Z. to Gina Marie Mauro who slipped it by the diving goalie.

Game 3

NHP 6 - Long Beach 0

Goals by Joanna, Emily (2), Kelsey Brown (2) and Stacey Wood gave the girls their most convincing win of the day. All the scoring opportunities, though, were made possible by Alyssa Kuczinski who was a wall on defense not letting Long Beach get untracked and feeding the forwards with accurate lead passes.

Game 4

NHP 4 - Levittown 0

Kelcey Z., Stacey and Emily worked well together up front to account for the scoring on some nifty passing and dribbling. Joanna and Deanna kept Levittown out of the box most of the game and on the rare occasions when Levittown was able to penetrate, goalie Kelsey B. was right there to make the save.

Game 5

NHP 4 - POB 0

Gina Marie did goalie duty this game and came up with a big save on a penalty kick to keep the shutout streak alive. Alyssa had a great all around game and stopped a POB breakaway with the score at 1 - 0. Both these defensive plays proved important because it was no goals against that gave us first place despite all the goals we scored. On the offensive side, Emily and Kelcey again teamed up for a pair of goals and Joanna kicked in a pair herself, one on a beautiful PK.

Congratulations to all the girls and special thanks to all the parents from coaches Efi and Lou.

The Alleycats entered the BW Gottschee indoor tournament with two teams. Both Blue and White teams went up against some of the best teams in the Metro-area and made it to the semi-finals. There the Blue team's goalie Bobby Thomson was outstanding and Dan Verbanac, John Dunlop, Rob Trasolini, Mark Baydala, John Joyce and Stephen Lind alternated between offense and defense. They battled to the bitter end but Gottschee squeezed it out in the last minute.

The Alleycat White team was successful in the semi-finals and prevailed over their rivals Fiao Toretta in another classic battle that went into overtime and a shoot-out. Matt Nolan displayed a lot of poise as the victorious goalie during the shoot-out. Now that Toretta was defeated by Dan Rosenberg, David Cantor, Brian Muldowney, Mark Goldman and Bryan Wolchok they had to face Gottschee in the finals. The Alleycats, who were last year's tournament champs, were looking to repeat. They made a valiant effort but Gottschee prevailed this time and they had to settle for a second place trophy. The Alleycats are highly respected by this group of teams.

The NHP Stormcats captured second place in the World Gym winter recess tournament. This was a fun tournament because it was played in a hockey rink and there was no out of bounds.

Game 1

NHP 2 - Middle Country 2

Joe Marrano and Robert Morici scored in this nailbiter. Danny Gargale was superb at keeper.

Game 2

NHP 7 - Bay Shore 3

New Hyde Park dominated this division one rival with a barrage of goal rebounds and goals. Eric Andscuzzi (2), Robby Kassoff (2), Daniel Duras, Joe Massano and Robert Morici led the potent attack. Great defense by Justin Brobst and Chris Dijan. A couple of fine assists by Christian Uy.

Game 3

NHP 5 - Hauppauge 1

The Stormcats crushed this new rival, the Lions. Danny Gargale had a terrific game stopping almost every shot and rebound the Lions could muster. Joe Massano (2), Eric Audreulli, Daniel Duras and Robert Morici did the damage for the Stormcats.

Game 4

HBC 4 - NHP 1

Justin Brobst, Chris Dijanic and Christian Uy were relentless in their attempt to stop this tough HBC team. Daniel Duras scored the only goal in this tough loss to an excellent opponent. Great time and a lot of fun playing off the wall. Well done, boys.

Another indoor tournament weekend against tough competitions as the boys continue to impress their opponents exhibiting excellent teamwork and skillful ball- handling ability.

NHP 2 - Island Trees Rowdies 1

Was the morning session too early for the kids? They found themselves down by one with four minutes left. Jonathan DeFelice tied the score when he lofted the ball from the halfway line, over the goalie's head, and into the net. Matthew Uy blasted in a low-ball, game-winner through the opposing goalie's fingers from the left attack. Andrew Morici started the right attack to provide balance. Anchoring the defense are Matthew Simms and Tony Peveraro. Daniel Viviano kept us in the game with superb goalkeeping plays.

NHP 3 - Hewlett-Lawrence Arsenal 0

Kyle Sheridan was unbelievable taking over the keeper position. His efforts are clearly displayed on the scoreboard. Michael Santalesa's constant offensive pressure allowed Matthew Uy to score his second of the day. The duo combined passing left to mid to right where Daniel shoelaced a shot past a confused keeper. Matthew Simms joined the scoring spree when his rocket shot found the net from the left-defensive end.

NHP 1 - Brentwood United 0

When the schedule was distributed, this match was the most anticipated one. It was the one everybody was looking forward to. No obsession playing against a well-disciplined team that's been playing together since five years old. No empty seats in the stand. Standing room everywhere. They all came to watch a good soccer game and the kids from both teams delivered. Daniel was spectacular on the keeper position. He accepted the challenge as he blocked and caught every blast from Brentwood. The defense of Michael and Matthew Simms, left and right respectively, was too much for the opposing wings. Tony, Andrew and Jonathan applied constant pressure up front. Matthew Uy used his strength and smarts to control the mid position. Kyle came in as a substitute and immediately announced his presence when he threaded a pass from Matthew Uy between the opposing keeper and just inside the right post. When the dust settled, coaches and parents from the other teams came over to congratulate everyone involved with the NHP team for a terrific performance.

NHP 1 - POB Orange1 1

Total exhaustion from the previous game showed in this game, as the front trio of Michael, Jonathan and Andrew could not get a chance to set up plays. Luckily, Tony and Daniel were strong on defense. Kyle returned to the keeper spot and turned in one of his best performances. A corner throw-in by Daniel was one-touched in nicely by Andrew. POB would not give up and tallied the game with 15 seconds left. Give credit where credit is due.

NHP 2 - POB Orange 2 2

Daniel exhibited another terrific performance from the keeper spot. Matthew Simms produced his own scoring opportunity as his corner throw-in ricocheted off a POB player and into the net. Jonathan sliced his way through two defenders and whipped a ball left to the awaiting Matthew Uy who hit a left-footed, one-touch shot into the net. The boys, still learning time management, allowed POB to tie the game with seven seconds left. However, their efforts gave them first place division winner.

Semi-Final

NHP 3 - POB Orange 1 0

POB was still enjoying their previous tie-game effort against us. That celebration was immediately halted when Andrew slotted the ball home from a Matthew Simms throw-in. The defense of Michael and Matthew Simms were so dominant that Daniel had only one shot-on-goal against. Second goal was volleyed-in by Matthew Uy after a high, clearing pass from Matthew Simms. The duo would connect again, Simms to Uy, for the third goal. Matthew Simms collected a hat trick on the assist column. His outstanding hustle and dedication contributed both offensively and defensively to the team's victory.

Final

NHP 2 - Brentwood United 1

Another nail-biter game as Brentwood was looking to avenge their previous loss from NHP. The boys lit up the scoring first. Michael Santalesa's shot from the left defensive position found the net and the celebration started in the stands. Brentwood tallied it with a shot from the halfway line. Second half started with Brentwood setting-up several rallied and blasting long shots to the very tough Daniel Viviano. His alertness kept us in the game as he cleared the ball with his feet, used his arms and body to catch long balls, jumped up high to clear corner throws, and used his head to direct his defense. Tony, Jonathan and Kyle shared the attacking role. Brentwood countered with a strong defense as well. Matthew Uy controlled the midfield position and gave it his best as he took away their middle set-up player. Matthew Simms's through-pass to Andrew found the net on the first-touch for the game-winner with two minutes left. The kids were reminded about time management, as they played keep-away for the rest of the game. Celebration continued all the way to NHP.

Playing the evenly distributed numbers game, Matthew Uy led the team with five goals, followed by Andrew (3), Matthew Simms (2), and one each for Jonathan, Michael, Daniel and Kyle. Super team player Matthew Simms led the team with four assists, followed by Matthew Uy (2), Michael (2), and one each for Jonathan and Daniel. Daniel and Kyle shared goalkeeping duties. The duo combined for three shutout games out of seven. Not bad! Tony, recovering from a temperature, played great position without the ball and was able to help out on both ends of the court. His speed and true grit came into play when needed most. Well done boys!

Congratulations are in order to Matthew Uy. He received recognition as "Best Forward" for the entire tournament encompassing 10 teams. He proudly shared his achievement with his teammates.

Special thanks once again to all the parents for their continued support.