Championship Tuesday at Hofstra did not disappoint for the New Hyde Park Cat Pack.
Game one had the Cat Pack facing Locust Valley. With Sofia Quijada and Mary Langan as striker’s and Lily Becker and Maria Poulos as midfielder’s, the Cat Pack controlled most of the early action.
A tough Locust Valley defense and great goal keeping kept the Cat Pack from scoring. It wasn’t until 15 minutes into the game that the Cat Pack finally broke through.
Caitriona Smith beat a defender to a loose ball and raced past her and crushed a shot to the right of the goalie for a 1-0 lead.
Great goal keeping by Nicolette Caneda and great defensive pressure kept Locust Valley off the board until late in the game. Locust Valley punched in a loose ball in front the Cat Pack’s goal to tie the score at 1-1.
A late game tying goal could deflate most teams, but not the Cat Pack. They were determined to win this game.
With less than two minutes left in the game, Maria Poulos made a perfect cross to Mary Langan, who took the pass and fired the game winner into the back of the net for a 2-1 victory.
Game one was fantastic, but nothing compared to the Championship Game against a tough evenly matched Manhasset team.
With Amanda Garcia in goal and a lock down defensive game by Jacqueline Jara, Caitlin Sheehan, Bridgette Slaski and Sara Aranov, the Cat Pack kept Manhasset off the board.
Manhasset’s play matched the Cat Pack throughout the game and they also kept the Cat Pack from scoring. At the end of regulation the score was tied 0-0.
Penalty kicks would decide this nail biter.
Manhasset kicked first. A great save by Quijada on a blast over her head kept Manhasset from scoring the first penalty kick.
Lily Becker took the first penalty kick for the Cat Pack and calmly nailed a shot into the right corner for a goal.
Manhasset came right back and scored on their next penalty kick.
Up next for the Cat Pack was Jenna Neu. Neu hit a screamer into the back of the net, 2-1 Cat Pack!
Manhasset wasn’t done and scored their last penalty kick to tie it up.
One last kick to decide this classic game and Poulos was up to the challenge. Poulos hit a low liner off the goalie’s outstretched hand and into the net for the game winner. A loud roar came from the sidelines as all the Cat Pack families and friends ran onto the field to celebrate with their Champs!
We could not be more proud of what our girls accomplished tonight.
Thank you for letting us, Coach Tommy Slaski, Javier Caneda and Anthony Garcia come along on this incredible championship ride. Congratulations champs!
