U-10 Girls A "Force" To Be Reckoned With

The Garden City U-10 Girls Force continued their unbeaten streak with a 5-0 blanking over the Oyster Bay Strikers last Saturday. The Force moved into a two-way tie with next weekend's opponent the Plaindedge Hot Shots.

Fullback Shelby Rivielle got the Force on the board early with her first goal of the season, a beautiful one timer from 18 yards out. The Strikers were pined deep in their zone for the next 10 minutes due to the defensive of Alana Macleod, Annie Randazzo and Jillian Minda.

Terrific crosses by right wing Janine Schwendemann led to a few great scoring chances for the Force but their barrage was thwarted by some nice saves by the Striker's keeper. That keeper however was powerless to stop the next blast from fullback Lily Shannon. Shannon recorded her first goal of the year with a rocket that sailed over the keeper's head to make the score 2-0.

The first half ended 2-0 and Garden City traded goaltenders sending Maddy McCabe forward and Lily Shannon to the goal. McCabe made the most of that switch by scoring two quick goals of her own to extend the lead to 4-0.

The Force then spread the field, moving the ball beautifully around the perimeter. The Strikers had no answer to the controlled ball play of Olivia Giarraputo, Catherine Honan and Gabby Marcoux. Game captain Annie Walsh then put the game away for good with her second goal of the season, capitalizing on the tenacious attack of forward Alicia Cristoforo.

The Force has clearly been putting in a lot of hard work and their skills and teamwork are improving game by game. Those skills will certainly be needed for next week's away game against the Plainedge Hot Shots who share the first place slot with the Force. The Force then take their game on the road to Connecticut for the Annual Windsor tournament before returning to St. Paul's for their first home game of the season.