What was very impressive last year was that the Island Trees U15 girl's soccer team, the Liberty, became the first Island Trees team in 15 years to win the Wallingford Tournament. What was even more impressive was the fact that they were able to do it for a second consecutive year. With a very exciting 2-1 overtime win over rivals Levittown in the finals, that is what they accomplished. They ended their two-year reign up there with a record of 9-1, scoring 22 goals, while only allowing in 6.

The Island Trees Liberty, coached by Joe Badalato and Bob Merrill, and trained by Ray Due, went up to Wallingford this year looking to defend their title successfully. Throughout the weekend, the girls were without Kim Dazzo, and suffered injuries to Ashley Moore, Michelle Duffy, and Jill Foster. However, playing with only two subs over the hot and humid weekend did not hold this group back. They opened with a game against New Britain, CT. IT dominated the first half, and led 2-0 at the break with goals from Kelly Surdo and Michelle Duffy. But the game, which seemed to be securely held onto, saw a very dramatic turnaround. New Britain came out looking like a brand new team, scoring a goal and putting a lot of pressure on the defense. Island Trees found themselves battling hard to the end, setting a trend throughout the weekend. After shots hitting the crossbar and post, along with some key saves from Danielle Hastings, one of the team's two goalies, the girls held on for a 2-1 victory.

Game 2 would be played against the Levittown Heat, a team that is a minute away but the girls were facing 2 hours away (sometimes 4-6 hours). Ashley Moore scored the lone goal in the 1-0 victory. Again, the girls needed to hang on desperately for the victory. This time Ashley Alessi was the goalkeeper with some key saves. The defense, led all weekend by Samantha Cranmer, Courtney McDermott, Claire Scahill, Michelle Badalato, and Rebecca Burleson, along with two very key defensive plays by Renee Balvin and Kelly Surdo, helped preserve the shutout. On Sunday, the girls came out sluggish against the host Wallingford team. However, they would cruise to a 6-1 victory on goals by an injured Ashley Moore, Kiersten Bortell, Jill Foster, Rebecca Burleson, and Meghan Biondolillo. The last game of the preliminaries would be played against another neighbor, the Hicksville Storm. This would be the girls most impressive performance of the weekend, finishing with a dominating 3-0 victory. The team was led by Christina Merrill, who scored a goal and set up Renee Balvin for another, and a goal from Angelina Delardi off a Biondolillo corner kick. Finishing with a perfect 4-0 record in the preliminaries, the girls would face the Levittown Heat, who finished 2-1-1, in the finals.

The IT girls came in ready for an intense-filled game against a very tough and resilient Levittown team, who would give them all they could handle. After a scoreless first half, it would be Levittown that would strike first, on a header with 23 minutes left. After a few minutes of panic, the girls finally settled down. They did an excellent job battling adversity, including a tying goal that was taken back, and keeping their cool in the exciting atmosphere. They finally pulled even with about 12 minutes left when a courageous Ashley Moore came in off the bench injured to put one in assisted by Courtney McDermott. The second half, filled with a few more scoring chances and clutch defensive plays, ended in a 1-1 tie, which led to sudden death overtime. Here, the girls had to reach deep down while playing with very limited subs and many of them out of position. There was only one goal standing between the Liberty and a second consecutive title, and it would be Christina Merrill playing the hero's role with a 20-yard shot off a throw-in from Meghan Biondolillo. The shot sailed in just under the crossbar, causing an eruption from the players, coaches, and the many terrific parents who made this possible, capping an end to a very memorable and enjoyable weekend.