In a fantastic display of team-oriented soccer, NHP GU8 White Lightning went undefeated to take first place in the East Meadow World Cup Premier Division. This group of girls have come a long way since moving up to play in Majors this Fall and Winter, and this tournament is a testament to their development, capturing first in the top division, scoring 13 goals and giving up 2. The team played tough all tournament long, but displayed excellent sportsmanship during and after each game - having a ton of fun along the way.

Game 1, NHP 1, East Meadow -1

Game 2, NHP 5, Jericho - 0

Game 3, NHP 5, Oceanside -0

Game 4, NHP 2, Massapequa - 1

Great passing, give and go's, overlaps, crashing the net, and super team defense contributed to our success in this tournament. In Goal, Olivia Lugo posted 2 shut-outs and came up big in clinching Game 4. She easily could have won Tournament Best Goalie. Edna Dudek was very solid in goal in Game 1 and played well in the field in games 2, 3, and 4 - providing a fantastic assist across the goal in Game 2 to set up a goal to seal the deal. On defense, Theodora Papanonio was rock solid in the middle and could have easily won tournament MVP for her efforts, aggressively stepping up time after time. Same thing for Olivia Baez who was equally strong on D from the left side and took some great shots on goal. On the right side, Kira Crehan used her speed to come back an break up multiple scoring chances by the opposition, and she a nice job at forward scoring a goal in Game 2.

Deirdre Lynch was very effective on Defense as well and did a very nice job of clearing the ball strongly up the wings. Siobhan McMullan split time on D and Fwd and showed excellent speed, aggressiveness. Siobhan has really stepped up her game this winter - and has become a very dangerous striker in the indoor leagues. As for the other Fwds, what can I say - fantastic effort all around. Sophie Michaels scored a pin-point shot goal in Game 3 and an extremely important goal in critical Game 4. She did a really nice job of passing that ball in from the left side. Sophia Leeds had a stellar tournament, scoring a hat trick in critical Game 4, including a bomb over everyone's head top shelf. She had 3 assists was deserving of tournament MVP also. Kaitlyn Krems had the tournament of her life, playing like a tiger, scoring 7 goals, assisting on 3 more, and winning Tournament MVP. The coaches are extremely proud of how all the girls played - they really stepped it up when the pressure was on in Game 3, taking down the previously undefeated Oceanside team, and then taking care of business in the tournament-clinching Game 5 versus an always tough Massapequa team. Great tournament against tough competition. Way to go, ladies!