The Garden City U-10 Girls Force "left it all on the field" Saturday at Soccer Park in Plainview. The Force controlled most of the action throughout but came up a bit short, losing to the Oceanside Twisters.

Moving up to Division 3 has proved to be quite a challenge to the Force, but they are beginning to embrace that challenge with some intense play despite dealing with injuries to two of their players, Lily Shannon and Annie Randazzo. The Force has been facing some intense competition all season, but have improved noticeably with each and every game. Saturday was no exception. The girls showcased some of the off season training and moved the ball exceptionally well, spreading the field and setting up some great scoring opportunities. Great crosses by Annie Walsh and Jillian Minda in the first half were met with great saves and clears by the Twisters defensive crew. The Force defense held the line as well with some great stops of their own. Olivia Giarraputo, Shelby Rivielle and Catherine Honan kept the Twister attackers at bay, while keeper Alana Macleod was there to thwart most of the opposition's early attempts.

The Twisters got on the board first with a goal late in the first half and the Force went into halftime down 1-0. Garden City knew this game was far from over and knew that they were playing good soccer and took the field in the second half determined to turn this game around. Keeper Alicia Cristoforo made some key early saves for the Force and forwards Janine Schwendemann and Maddie McCabe kept the pressure on throughout the second half, but the Twister's keeper made some great saves of her own and the comeback was just not to be on this day. A second goal by the Twisters made the score 2-0, but certainly did not break the Force's spirit. They continued to play gritty soccer and gave it everything they had but despite outshooting their opponent, they were only able to come away with a moral victory and a feeling that better things are on their horizon.

"I am very proud of the effort our girls put forth today," said Coach Walsh. "This team has worked hard, trained hard and is really starting to come together as a team in a very tough division. Today the ball just didn't bounce our way, but that just means we are due a few bounces of our own in the near future."

You can come out and see if those bounces are going the Force's way at their next home game on 5/31 at 12:20 versus their crosstown rivals the New Hyde Park Kitcats.