Finley MS at Mineola MS, Hampton Stadium

May 27 Game Summary

The Middle School Mustangs lost a heartbreaker to Finley 8-7. After a poor first half in which Finley took a commanding 6-0 lead, the Mustangs came out firing on all cylinders in the third quarter. Kurt Hetzer and Chris Granath combined for 2 goals each in a 4 goal burst that brought the Mustangs within 2. The teams then traded goals early in the fourth quarter with Michael Marques scoring off a pretty feed from Granath. Padraic Phelan pulled the Mustangs within 1 with an unassisted goal, his fifth of the season, midway through the fourth quarter in transition. The break started when Kyle Mercurio pounced on a ground ball in the midfield area and sped down the side line with it. With Mineola trailing 8-6 with 1:44 remaining, Finley was called for unnecessary roughness, resulting in an unreleasable man-up for the Mustangs. They converted once, Marques unassisted, but were unable to net the equalizer. Izzy Castro stood tall in the cage making 12 saves, a few of which were from point blank range. Tim Corrigan, Bryan Hettrich, Dave Lopez and Ralph DelliGatti led a strong defensive effort in the second half basically shutting down Finley's top guns. Ryan Pratt and Marques combined to win 12 of 16 faceoffs (75 percent). The Mustangs hosted Weber MS (Port Washington) June 2. It was their final home game of the year.

Finley 3 3 1 1 8

Mineola 0 0 4 3 7

Goals: Mineola, Hetzer 2, Granath 2, Marques 2, Phelan 1

Assists: Pratt, Marques, Hetzer, Granath

Finley, #15 3, #39 2, #4, #16, #15

Saves: Mineola, Castro 12, Thomann 4

Finley: Keeper 8

Weber MS (Port Washington) at Mineola MS, Hampton Stadium

June 2 Game Summary

Mustangs 6 Vikings 2

The Middle School Mustangs rebounded from last week's disappointing loss to Finley with a 6-2 victory, their first of the season. Michael Marques scored 4 goals, 2 unassisted to pace the mustangs offense. Marques now has a team leading 12 points on 7 goals and 5 assists. Kurt Hetzer gave the Mustangs a lead they would never relinquish with a goal (his 8th) early in the second quarter off of a beautiful feed from Carlos Barros. Michael Diglio then made a perfect pass to a cutting Marques, and the rout was on. Chris Jansen sealed the deal in the fourth quarter with the first goal of his career. John Englis found Jansen wide open on the crease of his 3rd assist of the season. Brian Thomann made 5 saves over three quarters and even had an assist. The midfield was dominated all afternoon by the Mustangs as Zane Kerney and Padraic Phelan cleared the ball and played strong defense throughout. Ryan Pratt and Michael Reis helped to dominate faceoffs keeping the ball in Mineola's possession. The defense shut down Weber's offense allowing only 11 shots on goal. Bryan O'Malley, Vinny Campanale, and Alex Lopes were a big part of the defensive effort. The Mustangs closed out their season at North Shore Middle School on Thursday, June 5.

Weber 1 0 0 1 2

Mineola 1 2 0 3 6

Goals: Mineola, Marques 4, Hetzer, Jansen

Assists: Barros, Diglio, Englis, thomann

Weber: #30, #17

Saves: Mineola, Castro 4, Thomann 5 Weber: Keeper 13