Girls U-10 Flash Notches First League Win

Building on their trophy winning performance in August's Covanta Cup, the U-10 Garden City Flash opened the Fall league season on Saturday September 8th with a commanding 6-0 win over the Flo-ral Park Freedom. From the outset, the Flash attacked their opponents with a well-developed passing game, consistently moving the ball out to the wings, up the flanks and back to the center. While a good Floral Park keeper kept the Flash off the board for a while, the team's sustained pressure eventually led to a breakthrough. Kerry Defliese pushed up from central defense, picked off an errant Floral Park pass, and beat two defenders before driving a left foot effort inside the far post from the top of the box.

Once on the board, the goals came quickly. Katherine Galzerano took a pass from Grace Cameron on the right side of the area and launched a solid shot at the Floral Park net. The goalie got a hand on the ball to keep it out of the top corner, but the rebound fell to Michaela Bruno, who wheeled and punched home the Flash's second goal of the game. Minutes later, Kerry cut off a Floral Park attack and released Emily O'Neill up the right wing from midfield. Emily beat her defender to the inside and tucked the ball past the keeper at the near post. Not satisfied with a single assist, Kerry then put Michaela Bruno through on goal from the left wing. Flashing her brand new, bright red cleats, Michaela slotted the ball in at the far post for her second goal of the game and a 4-0 lead. Shortly thereafter, Nicole Leto used some nice moves to round her defender and find Katie Muldoon in the box for a hard shot that the Floral Park goalie did well to stop. Katherine Galzerano ended the first half by intercepting a Floral Park clearance and belting a long range effort from the right side into the top left hand corner.

The second half saw Nicole Derby close the scoring, latching onto a Bruno corner to fire a low shot in at the near post for the team's sixth goal. With a substantial lead, the Flash focused on their passing game and their defense. Julia McGuire, calm on the ball as ever, distributed the ball effec-tively to all parts of the field. Chloe Stapleford and Isabel Klatt produced dangerous crosses from both the wing and full back positions that, in another game, could easily have led to scores. At the same time, the team's defense more than complemented the productive offense, stifling the Freedom's attack and leaving goalies Nicole Derby, Katherine Galzerano and Grace Cameron with little to do.

The Flash's solid team-wide passing effort demonstrates that the girls are absorbing the lessons that coaches Galzerano, Cameron and Derby are teach-ing. They will look to continue their progress next Saturday, September 15th, at New Hyde Park. Go Flash!