TOPSoccer

A warm, muggy day (but no rain) greeted us as we traveled to the Soccer Park in Plainview for the annual P/OB TOPSoccer Tournament. As usual, the NHP teams made a remarkable showing of themselves. The juniors were led by Nicholas DiSalvio's unrelenting dribbling and shooting. Our outstanding goalie was Constantine Lascarides, who played like a seasoned professional. Great overall play by Emily Bosco, Shawn Haghnazar, Harrison Stein and Tristan Yang. The seniors had a balanced attack. Stefani Egre had an excellent day as she scored several times. Adding some offensive punch, and goals, were Andrew Abberton and Patrick Williams. Sebastian Garcia played steady in goal. Keeping the game in control was a topflight midfield consisting of Billy Russo, Matt Saraiva, Matt Strominger, Nicholas Marangoudakis and Alex Warner. A big thanks to our young coaches, Kerri, Maiken, Matt, Katerina, Brianna, Gemma, Victoria, Danny and Michelle, who make each week so special. Everyone was treated to some very welcome refreshments of hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks. All the players were given trophies and a soccer ball. The day culminated with the players (and some of the coaches) having their pictures taken by some generous bikers on their "hogs". It's back to Center Street next week with the parents vs. the players game looming ever so large the following, and final, week of the season. The parents seemed very confident bragging about being well-prepared for the match. We shall see. Richard Bletsch

Girls Travel Division

U10

New Hyde Park Lady Tigers 4

Vs. East Meadow Starz 1 - June 2, 2007

The stifling heat did not slow down the Lady Tigers as they attacked and fought hard all day long. The game got started with Jennifer Louie passing the ball to Jasmine Bustos who quickly passed it back to Jennifer who scored from the left corner to give the Lady Tigers an early lead. Julie Kennedy, Betsy Tanenbaum and Jasmine had some shots on goal but the score remained 1 to 0. The Lady Tigers picked up their intensity in the second half when Betsy's hard shot at the goalie was dropped for just a moment by the goalie; Martha Keller was perfectly positioned to tap in the second goal. The offensive play of Sabrina Posadas, Gianna Ferrante, Keeley McGrath, Julie and Martha kept the ball mostly in the Starz's side of the field. From the far right side, Betsy had a high kick that bounced off the top of the goal post. Her persistence later paid off when she scored by sending the ball high into the goal. Betsy scored again with a high and powerful kick from just short of midfield on a penalty kick. The goalie got her hands on the ball but was unable to stop the force of the shot. The defense of Erin Rivera, Laila Chadli and Bridgette Stacom kept the Starz's from getting too close to our goal. Betsy and Jennifer also played some defense today. Bridgette was very active and played a strong defensive game. Lisa Pellegrino continues to show much poise and focus, had another excellent game in goal. Towards the end of the game, the Starz had a beautiful set up that gave them their one and only goal. Despite the heat, Keeley showed great effort and determination by running down loose balls and had a few scoring attempts that were blocked by a diving goalie. Martha keeps on going, having a terrific game on offense and getting back to help out on defense. All the Lady Tigers worked cooperatively and continue to demonstrate improved passing and teamwork. On such a hot and humid day, it was a cool win for the Lady Tigers.

Cabbage Patch Division

U-7

Bratz vs Cubs

It was a gray day and the girls were hoping to finish their

training and scrimmage before the rain started coming down. The girls came close but the sky opened up and rain started to come down but the girls did not care because they were having so much fun playing soccer! The girls put in to play all the great things that they have been working on all season long. There was some great passing, great footwork, tough defense and smart goal keeping. The Bratz were powered by Emma Aquino, Olivia Baez, Kira Crehan, Marissa Cronin, Marcela Curcio, Camryn Dluginski, Camryn Finkel, Deirdre Lynch, Emma Quinn and Sarah Reigrod. We missed you on the field Victoria. As usual, I am proud of all my soccer Bratz.

G-Bears

Practice this week - Friday at 6 p.m. at the Water District Field. I'd like to have our season ending Party at Angeletto's Café at 12:00 pm following the Saturday makeup game. We could also do it on Sunday before the last game of the season if that is more convenient for everyone - let me know who cannot attend on Saturday. The Saturday makeup game is at 10:30 p.m. at Denton Ave on June 9. Our last regular season game is Sunday June 10 at 3pm.

Game Summary: G-Bears v. Jets

Some may say Sunday was a gloomy day, but clouds and sprinkles are perfect soccer weather and act as 'air conditioning' for the girls so it all depends how you look at it - I am sure it was more uncomfortable for the parents. Anyway, it was the G-Bears versus the always tough Jets for the second time this season and it was expected to be a battle of high powered offenses. The Jets played tough and with a lot of heart and it would take some super play by the G-Bears to get their chances today. The attack today was led by Erica Lorenzana and those 2 'Katie-twins' again. Katie #1, Katie Meegan had another great game, first on the attack where she just missed on several chances and then she took her turn on Defense and played super, making runs up field when the opportunity presented. Katie #2, Kaitlyn Krems also had another super game, recording a hat-trick and then some, showing a real knack for putting away that tough-angle shot from the right side. Erica L took her turn on D, and then got into the act on offense, first driving in on goal and netting one home, and then she launched a laser shot off the post that just missed. Super game. Jackie Diffley played defense today early on and did a fantastic job of taking the ball wide and out of harms way - and then making some super assist passes up to the Katies. Jackie also got on the scoreboard today with a super laser shot. Sophia Leeds played outstanding as well, just missing on several scoring chances before taking a stint on D where she patrolled the center to perfection. Mackenzie Griffin played super on D and at midfield and broke up several attacks and had a very nice charge on goal. Bethany Ambrosio took a turn in goal and did a fine job before taking a stint at fwd where she made some really nice hard passes over opponents heads. Kathleen Toscano also played in goal today and did a fine job - and she too had a chance or 2 to score. Hannah Varghese took her turn in goal too, made several nice stops and in the field had a very nice killer pass to one of the Katies. Kristin Granieri, Edna Dudek and Alyssa Macher - we missed you. Super game by both teams, very hard running and shooting by both teams. Can't say how proud I am of the development of the girls! Coach Kevin

Bonnet Division

U9 Girls

Angels 2 Thundercats 1

Coach Danny would like to thank all the girls for the spring '07 Intramural season: Julia Leva, Taylor Barnard, Taylor Cosme, Camille Bangug, Katya Keblish, Marissa Palazzo, Arianna Ramdas, Amanda Madenberg, Sanjana Mohan, Ashley Milana, Amanda Namendorf, Ashling Fitzgerald, and Maeve O'Sullivan. Thank you to the Thundercats for a very challenging playoff game. All the girls from both teams played their hearts out and had a lot of fun. Thundercats gave the Angels defense a run for their money and the Angels turned them away several times. However, the Thundercats took advantage of the opportunity when the Angels failed to clear out the ball and secured the first goal of the game. Upon settling down, Maeve's strong clearing of the ball ensured that the offense took control. In the second half, with strong passing from Taylor Cosme and Julia Leva combined with constant pressure from the midfielders the ball was kept in front of the Thundercats goal. The Angels took advantage of this resulting in Taylor Barnard's clear determination in scoring the Angels first goal. With continued pressure on the Thundercats defense, Taylor Barnard came through again for the Angels resulting in a 2-1 win for the Angels. I would like to thank the parents of all the girls for supporting their daughters and making many sacrifices to be there at the practices and the games. As the Intramural spring League comes to close I would also like to thank my fellow coaches: Juan, Bob and Kevin for the years that we contributed to all the girls at the Intramural level. Danny