The Blizzards huddle for the post game cheer On Sunday September 25 th, the Garden City Blizzards hosted the East Meadow Wildcats at the Community Park. The two teams haven’t played each other since Ref-fuel three years ago. It was apparent a few minutes into the match that both teams had similar playing styles. This lead to an incredibly exciting game. Two goals late in the second half gave the Blizzards a thrilling 2-1 victory.

The first half was evenly played, with each team sharing an equal amount of possession time. Some great counter attacks by both sides created good scoring opportunities, but both defenses stopped these attempts. The only score of the half was a Wildcat free kick outside the 18 yard box 17 minutes into the match. Solid play by defenders Jennifer Blair, Allison Gerspach, Kristina Kelly, Amanda Murolo, stopper Delsey Attardi and sweeper Maria Ortiz contained the Wildcats for 70 minutes. On the offensive side, the Blizzards midfielders and forwards displayed some awesome combination passing that kept their team on the attack. Lauren Singer, Catherine Dorn and Brenda O’Donnell worked fluidly with Colleen Mullin, Victoria Aldrich and Kendall Fries to pressure the Wildcats defense. There were some great scoring chances, but it was 1-0 at half, in favor of the Wildcats.

Brigid O’Malley sends the ball up the field For the second week in a row, the Blizzards stepped up their play in the second half. Forwards Nicole DeRose, Erin Dean and Katherine McCarthy continued to penetrate the Wildcats defensive area. The East Meadow team only had one substitute, where the Blizzards had seven. As the half progressed, the Wildcats started to tire and the Blizzards started to dominate play. Midfielder’s Emma Kane, Gabrielle Nesi and Brigid O’Malley forced a fast pace to the match, taking advantage of a winded East Meadow team. With 10 minutes remaining, the team was awarded a free kick 3 yards outside the 18 yard box. Gabrielle sent a perfectly placed ball into the upper right hand corner to tie the match. This only added to the Blizzards momentum and they relentlessly attacked the East Meadow team. Six and half minutes later, Erin sent a great ball to the top of the box. The Wildcats keeper and Blizzard’s striker, Victoria, were in a foot race for the ball. They both got to it at the same time, but Victoria won the battle and pushed the ball into the empty net to give the team a tremendous come from behind victory.

Amanda Murolo dribbles out of the penalty box

Colleen Mullin goes on the attack