The Mineola High School girls varsity lacrosse team has assured itself a spot in the Nassau County Playoffs for the second year in a row. The postseason clincher came in the Lady Mustangs' 15 to 11 win over South Side. But, as Coach Katie Sheehan said, "The rest of the season will determine how highly we are seeded. The team still has its eye on another conference championship, though that will only come with well-earned victories over Friends Academy, Glen Cove and Floral Park. In the win over South Side, Nikole Tsabasis paced Mineola to an early 3-0 lead with a goal and two assists. The teams went back and forth and midway through the first half, Mineola held a 5-4 lead. Katherine Hock and Jamie Carter each scored to give the Mustangs a 7-5 halftime lead. More goal for goal play in the second half and with eight minutes remaining, Southside had drawn to within a goal. It was 11-10 Mineola. Hock scored an insurance goal ten seconds later. Coach Sheehan said after the game, "Defensively, the unit is still not giving itself enough credit. As long as we score more, the defense is doing fine. Honestly, the defensive unit is the hardest working unit it has been my pleasure to coach. They just need to lighten up on themselves. Hock led Mineola in scoring with four goals and two assists. Mary Warren added three goals, while eight other players each had a goal. Tsabasis finished with a team-high four assists. The win over South Side was Mineola's fifth in six days. Earlier, the Lady Mustangs had beaten Plainview 10 to 8 and Locust Valley 14 to 11. Mineola held Plainview without a goal over an 18 1/2 minute stretch of the second half. Offensively, Mineola scored three goals in the opening five minutes of the game. But, midway through the half, Plainview had tied the score at four. And at halftime, the Lady Mustangs and Lady Hawks were knotted at six apiece. Mineola opened the second half by scoring first. Katherine Hock converted on a beautiful pass across the goal mouth by Danielle Adams. After Plainview had tied the score again, Mineola responded with goals from Jamie Carter, Hock again and Mary Warren. The Mustangs were ahead to stay. Allyson Murphy played her best game in goal this season with 16 saves along with some phenomenal clears. Hock finished with four goals and an assist while Nikole Tsabasis and Warren had two apiece. Carter had three assists to goal with her goal. On Senior Recognition Day, Carter, Hock, Vanessa Papadimitrios, Deena Vezo and Warren were honored. A day, Mineola got five goals each from Katherine Hock and Mary Warren in the win over Locust Valley. Vikki Montalbano and Nikole Tsabasis also had two goals. Tasabasis also had a team-high three assists. Allyson Murphy had another terrific day in goal with 17 saves.

Mineola Baseball Update

The Mineola varsity baseball team's season started slowly with just one win in the first five games. The season opener was a 12-1 loss to perennial power division. Coach Helms Bohringer said, "Some shabby defense allowed Division to get an early 5-0 lead." The Mustangs got on the board on a perfectly executed double steal by junior Bryan Gallucci and senior Jon Debrich. While senior pitchers Brian Sallie and Steve Bruno gave a good effort, the defense was costly and many of the 12 runs were unearned. In their second game, another non-league contest, Mineola was shutout by Oceanside 6-0. Only one of those runs was earned the result of five Mustangs errors. Mineola did get some hits from Debrich, Gallucci and J.F. Canavan. Mineola notched its first win its lead opener. The Mustangs outslugged Lynbrook 11 to 8. Mineola built an 11-0 lead after three innings and held on for the win. Adam Tuthill batted clean-up and drove in four runs, while Steve Bruno had two RBIs. Mineola was aggressive on the basepaths, stealing seven bases. Sophomore Richie Medlock got his first varsity hit and stolen base. Brian Sallie earned the win on the hill, but was hurt by shaky defense in the sixth inning when Lynbrook scored all of its runs. Lynbrook got even in the second game of the series 9-5. After two innings, the Owls had a 3-2 lead. But, in the top of the third inning, Mineola was unable was unable to score after getting men on first and second with no outs. In the bottom of the inning, Lynbrook capitalized on the same situation with five runs, including a grand slam. Then, stepping back out of conference, Mineola lost a tough decision to village rival, Chaminade, 9 to 5. The Mustangs built a 4-1 lead behind some Chaminade errors, some very aggressive base running and key hits from J.F. Canavan and Steve Bruno. But, the old errors reared their ugly heads and the visitors came from behind for the win. Starter Brian Sallie took the loss, but gave up only two earned runs.

Meanwhile, the Mineola junior varsity baseball team opened its season by winning four of its first five games. The season-opener was a 3-2 loss to Lynbrook. The Mustangs actually scored first. But, the Owls scored two unearned runs in the sixth inning off of freshman pitcher Joe Wissler. Mineola was able to get one back in the seventh. But, Dan Guido's drive that looked like it was headed for a two-run double was snared by Lynbrook's left fielder. Wissler deserved better fate. Coach Barry silverstein said, "Joe pitched well enough to win this game." Mineola bounced back, though, in the second game of the series, blasting Lynbrook 22 to 4. The Mustangs sent two men to the plate in the first inning and scored seven runs. Danny Medlock had two hits and scored four runs while driving in three more. Greg Weiss was 1 for 2. He also drove in three runs and scored three times. Weiss also got the win, giving up one hit and three run s over the run-rule-5-inning game. Mineola won its second straight 19 to 7 over Great Neck North. The Mustangs again got off to a quick start with five runs in the first inning. Shon Philip paced the attack with three hits and four RBIs. George Harrison banged-out two hits and drove in three runs to support Joe Wissler, who got the win on the mound. But, a key moment in this game came when Chris Egner relieved Wissler with the bases loaded and two outs in a 9-6 game and Egner got out of the inning for his first save. Coach Silverstein said, "With the game on the line, Chris stepped up huge today for us." Mineola notched its third consecutive win in an 18 to 10 victory over Sewanhaka. The first inning was again the key as Mineola pounded out six hits and scored seven ru ns. Peter Averaimo had a 2 for 4 day and scored three runs while Jerell Harrison came off the bench to go 3 for 3. Ed Kiser was 3 for 4 as well. George Harrison got the win on the mound. Mineola's fourth consecutive win was 9 to 3 victory over Sewanhaka. The 8, 9 and number one hitters did the trick for the Mustangs. They went a combined 6 for 8 and scored five runs. Coach Silverstein said "Averaimo, Wissler and Kiser gave us a big lift today. When the heart of your order is 2 for 10, you won't win many games. Today was a total team effort." And while Silverstein is getting contributions from his entire roster so far, he also pointed to sophomore Billy Madison as one of the keys to the Mustangs strong start, saying, "I wish all my guys had the heart and desire of Billy Madison." The Mineola JV roster is made up of:

Peter Averaimo - fresh. - SS/OF

Chris Egner - soph. - OF/P

Dan Guido - soph. B/OF

George Harrison - soph. - P/OF

Jerell Harrison - fresh.- OF/INF

Matt Jetter - soph. - 2B/OF

Ed Kiser - soph. - OF

Mike Kondraciuk - fresh. - OF

Billy Madison - soph. - OF/1B

Dan Medlock - fresh. - C/SS/P

Mike Penny - soph. - 2B/OF

Shon Philip - soph. - 1B/3B

Chris Sallie - fresh. - P/3B

Matt Sanderleaf - soph. - 1B/2B

Greg Weiss - soph. - C/P/SS

Kevin Williams - fresh. - C/OF

Joe Wissler - fresh. - C/P/OF

The Mineola junior varsity softball team has gotten off to a good start under Coach Rory Block. The Ladies had four wins and four losses through the 24th of April. Early in the season, Mineola dropped a 13 to 7 decision to Clarke after leading 3-2. Clarke scored seven runs in the fourth inning and another four in the sixth inning. Mineola mounted a comeback in the seventh inning when Alexandra Vega led off with a double and scored on Allysin Strein's single. Rachelle Callahan followed with another single ahead of Jill Tognelli's monster home run. Denise Fitzpatrick followed with a home run of her own to left field. But, Mineola could not come back all the way.

The Mineola JV's evened their overall record at 3 and 3 when they ripped Roslyn 22 to 1. Sophomore Kristin Raffetto struck out 14 batters. Raffetto helped her own cause by going 3 for 3 at the plate and scoring twice. Sophomore Rachel Cohen had a 4 for 4 day and scored four times while Angelina Martinez connected for her first two hits of the season. Mineola broke open a relatively close game with a 15 run sixth inning. The ladies batted around twice. Allyson Strein was 2 for 5 and scored three runs. Next game out, Mineola inched above the 500 mark with a 3-1 victory over previously undefeated Plainedge. Kristin Raffetto notched ten strikeouts while getting strong defense from Rachelle Callahan, Alexandra Vega, Rachel Cohen and Kris Nuzzi. Mineola scored its three runs in the first inning on hits by Vega, Cohen and Denise Fitzpatrick. Plainedge mounted several threats, including scoring its only run and loading the bases on the seventh inning, but Raffetto struck out the last batter to preserve the win. A few days later, MacArthur handed the Lady Mustangs a 4-3 defeat in Levittown. Mineola trailed 4-0 going into the top of the sixth inning. After two outs, Allyson Strein and Melissa Buehler drew walks. Strein then stole third base. Buehler stole second on the next pitch. Then, Rachelle Callahan singled up the middle to drive in two runs. Callahan then moved to third on a couple of wild pitches and scored on an error. Mineola was back within a run. But, MacArthur added two more in the sixth and won 6-3.