The Mineola Mongoose, in their first season together, suffered their first defeat in a real nail biter to the Northshore Jaguars, 2 - 0. A team record of 10 saves by the Mongoose goalie, Catherine Pepe, contributed significantly to the valiant effort by the newly formed Mongoose.

The scoreless first half was peppered by long drives, penalty kicks, and strong efforts from both teams. The Mongoose, down three players, fearlessly held the Jaguars off. Catherine's energetic effort at goal resulted in six first half saves. Hannah Hinchcliffe, Shannon Ginty and Claire Buckley combined to drive the ball from the Jaguars' goal down field where Lauren Wheatley and Jackie Stagnari took it in for an attempt on goal only to be deflected in the last minute by the strong Jaguar defense.

Amanda Jozef, Kayla Vessely, Hayley Ward and Shannon worked together in the second half to keep the ball in the Jaguars' defense more of the time and continued to hold off the pressing Jaguars with exhausting drives and effective passing.

Katie DiMarzo had two towering kicks from defense, booting the ball a half field. Claire and Erin Carr-Fragiacomo's tireless and strong effort at defense helped to keep the game scoreless for a time. About 12 minutes into the second half the Jaguars turned the ball around, blew by the Mongoose who were concentrating on offense, and drove the ball into the goal.

Lauren pressed her inexhaustible speed, passing Jaguar defenders and took five shots at goal late in the game, resulting in superb saves by the Jaguar's goalie, and a chorus of gasps from the sidelines. Amanda, Shannon and Jackie showed tremendous endurance and skill in both offense and defense.

The Jaguars' abounding skill and strength wore the Mongoose down. The Mongoose hung on, finally succumbing to the heat, fatigue, and lack of fresh substitutes. The persistent Jaguars scored their second goal in the final minutes of the game.

The Mineola Mongoose, a U9 travel team, have a respectable 1-1-2 record in their short time as the Mineola Mongoose. The girls have really come together as a formidable team under the steadfast and enthusiastic leadership of J. Pepe, Bill Vessely and Steve Jozef. The team is looking forward to a season filled with learning, growing and most of all, fun.