NHP Wildcats: Leopards finish first in Division 1

The Island Now

The New Hyde Park Wildcats BU12 Leopards just completed an incredibly successful spring season. All the hard work throughout the cold winter months paid off.  The Leopards finished in first place in LIJSL Division 1 for the third consecutive season, going undefeated (8-0-1) with a +21 goal differential. Additionally, the Leopards made it to the finals of the USYS Eastern NY championship tournament but came up on the short end of a 3-2 score in what was an incredibly entertaining and well-played match.

During the Memorial Day weekend, the Leopards travelled to southwestern Pennsylvania to compete in the ultra-competitive and prestigious FC Delco Players Cup Tournament. This marked the first time the boys were exposed to top teams from outside our local region and the boys were up to the challenge.  They took home the first place trophy in the Elite flight going 5-0 and outscoring opponents 14-1. 

The thrilling championship match, played early in the morning on a beautiful Memorial Day, pitted the Leopards against a top Virginia teams which had defeated a top Connecticut in the semi-final 5-0. This was by far the best team that the Leopards had ever come up against.  The boys from Virginia kept the Leopards pinned in their own half for the majority of the first 10 minutes. The resilient Leopards withstood the assault, picked up their level of play and started taking it to the opponent. 

The half finished 0-0 with each team having one real good scoring chance. In the second half, the Leopards returned the favor and kept the opponent pinned in their own half for the majority of 12 minutes, but could not capitalize on their scoring chances. The Virginia boys realized that they were in a dog fight.

The second half ended in a 0-0 tie necessitating two five minute overtime periods. The Leopards broke through at the three-minute mark of the first overtime with a nice build up from midfield, linking a couple of passes which resulted in a shot from the top of the box. From there, the boys hung on and withstood a furious charge from an opponent that would not quit and threw everything they had in order to get the equalizer.

This was an incredible experience for the boys who, in addition to playing soccer at a high level, took the opportunity to bond while enjoying each other’s company away from the fields. And, it might be added, the parents enjoyed the trip as well!  Congratulations Leopards!  Your future is bright indeed.

Firecats are ENY State Open Cup Champions

The New Hyde Park Wildcats GU12 Firecats are ENY State Open Cup Champions!   The Firecats made it to the State Cup finals played on Saturday June 1st in the upstate town of LaGrange. Using their experience as finalists in three past cup campaigns, the girls spent the week devising strategy on Instagram and group texts late into each night. It was going to be a difficult weekend as the schedule had Friday and Sunday league games with the final cup game on Saturday.  

The fields were perfect as the day was dry but with 90 degree temperatures, the sun was relentless. Competition was against HBC Sudden Impact 00 which is an NPL team with experienced coaches and skilled and competitive players. 

The Firecats were down two goals very early in the game but the players settled in with their training and discipline, taking over until the match slowly turned in their favor.  At half time, there was the regular team talk, but it was the girls who figured out the changes they needed to make to secure a win.  

Shortly after the second half whistle, Logan Ward scored on a penalty kick from about 30 yards and the Firecats were off to the races.  The first goal raised the girls’ spirits and they kept pressing until Caitlin Kennedy, off of a perfect pass, beat the HBC defense to finish with a super shot past the goalie and regulation time ended with a 2-2 tie.  

The athletes were exhausted as they went back to the bench but were also confident with a “don’t worry we got this” attitude. The players picked up the tempo in overtime with Marina Pappas scoring by taking the ball and herself into the back of the net off of another penalty kick.  The defense withstood another barrage from HBC but Irene Tsahas sealed the game by firing off a hard volley right outside the box for the final goal to win 4-2.  

The offense was led by Marina Pappas, Caitlin Kennedy and Izzy Glennon.  Despite the temperature, the midfield out-worked the competition with 100 percent commitment to every run and tackle. Kudos to Logan Ward, Paulina Valentine, Madeline Slaski, Joanna Mauceri, Josephine Lamarca, and Irene Tsahas.  As often said, defense wins games and once settled, the Firecats defense fiercely marked opponents, closed down space, and kept HBC out of the box for the remainder of the game. The defense was led by goalie Jillian Cooper, Lauren Wasserman, Lindsey Smith, Nicole Imbrogno, Stephanie Zovich and Jasmine Kamdar.  

The Firecats had one injury all season playing two leagues and two tournaments, but sustained four injuries by the end of this one cup game. It was a total team effort including the trademark second-half-comeback wherein each girl rose to the occasion.  The coaches and parents could not be more proud of them!  The day ended with a refreshing water balloon fight in which trainer Steve Price was soaked though and has to wear a specially designed shirt at the next practice for everyone to see! The weekend ended with three wins.  The next stop for the girls will be representing NY at the Region 1 finals at the end of June in Rhode Island.

 

Lady Jaguars finish season

with two ties

The New Hyde Park Wildcats GU11 Lady Jaguars finished their season with two hard-fought games this weekend, both of which ended in 2-2 ties. On Saturday, the Lady Jags played the Kosmos team with goals scored by Sammie Coope and Alex Caldwell. On Sunday, the girls played the Albertson Adrenaline, with goals scored by Zoe Winston and Alex Caldwell. 

Linda Artusa, the Mariano Rivera of GU11 soccer, were exceptional as usual. The Lady Jags defensive unit of Tessie Cash, Caitlin McDonough, Jillian Fager, Sam Corrigan and Nora Higgins turned back two of the finest offenses in Division 1. The offensive play of Mary Tsahas, Andrea Bouzos, Asling McGrath, Claire O’Regan and Vrisida Bouzos was tenacious, attacking the goal in both games.

During the post-game Parents versus Lady Jags annual match, Crissy Higgins lit it up with a hat trick to lead the parents to victory.  Thanks to the coaches Brian Higgins, Tom McGrath, Frank O’Regan, Alex Winston and Trainer Steve for all their support and help this year.

 

New Hyde Park TOP Soccer

finishes the Season

The New Hyde Park Wildcats Top Soccer athletes look forward to this match every season when they challenge their parents to a game at the final session.  But, the parents took the players by surprise this year and gave the athletes a very competitive game.

Juniors/Intermediates 3, Parents 2. Since the Juniors and Intermediates played so well together last weekend at the tournament, they combined their teams once again to take on the parents.    The athletes jumped out ahead with a goal by Chris Cooney.  Chris was in the right place when one of his teammates took a shot, it rebounded out into the field and Chris shot it past the goalie and scored.   

Petros D’Amico was amazing in goal, stopping shot after shot with a little help from Danny Durso.  Danny Durso also scored, putting the athletes ahead 2-0.  Not to be outdone by his son, Mr. Cooney blasted a shot past Petros and made the game a little more interesting at 2-1.  

Andrew Faller, Desmond O’Callaghan, Demetri Georgedakis and Connor Fitzgerald were solid in defense and were supported by their midfielders, Joshua Hom, Alex Laroia, Seamus McWeeney, Christopher and Daniel Menedez.  Nicolas Krieger, David Cheung and Annaliese Jurena were constantly moving and shooting as the athletes strikers.  

Right before halftime, Ashlyn Jurena with a pinpoint accurate pass by John Bertuccio dribbled the ball down the offensive half and scored!  The athletes were up ahead by 3-1.  But this did not discourage the parents and they tried to score many times, testing Petros D’Amico’s skills as a goalie. 

Finally with minutes left, Petros’ friend Frank scored but unfortunately for the parents, time ran out and the athletes once again beat the parents.    It was a very close game.  The parents were hoping to tie the game and go into shoot outs but it was not meant to be.

Seniors 4, Parents 1. The Seniors were a little stronger than the Juniors/Intermediates.  The Seniors just wore out the parents since they are not as young as they use to be. The parents were on fire for the first 10 minutes but after that, they needed more and more water breaks.   

Timothy Roth and Stefani Egre scored for the Seniors.  Both have been strong strikers this season that they are the Clint Dempsey and Alex Morgan of the Wildcats.  The team can always count on them to score.  Mr. La Pinta scored for the parents but unfortunately, he went down with an injury during the game.  We all hope that Mr. LaPinta is feeling better and that he will be back on the field in the fall.  

Goalie Sebastian Gonzalez was awesome and kept the parents to one goal.  Coach Rich Bletsch was goalie for the parents but the athletes were too quick in shooting that he was all over the goal area. The third Senior goal was a group effort since Coach Bletsch didn’t even see who shot it at him.  The ref thinks that David and Mary Glass had a part of that team effort.  

Patrick Williams put the icing on the cake with the 4th goal and after that, the parents didn’t have a chance to catch up.  There were great plays by all the Seniors:  Joseph Caban, Justin Durso, Samantha Duggan, James Fahey, Sebastian Garcia, Nickolas’ Mazariegos, Frank LaPinta, Samuel Ho, Billy Russo, Adam Strominger, Tristan Yang, Jefferson Yen, Justin Almonte, Debbie Chin and Harrison Stein.


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