Becky Reifler stays ahead of her rival Coming off a full weekend of soccer after the Windsor Tournament, the Garden City U12 Patriettes played both a league game and a state cup tournament game this weekend.

The league game was played at Merrick against the Sharks. The Sharks and Patriettes had met twice before in tournaments but never in a league game. It took both teams a few minutes to warm up to the chilly game conditions. As with many matches a large portion of the game was played in the midfield with both teams working hard to get advances towards the opponent's goal. The Sharks had the only goal in the first half and the half ended with Merrick leading 1-0. The Patriettes came out after halftime with a renewed sense of determination to get back in the game. The defense of Jillian Curtin, Julia Biscardi, Claudia Caracciolo and Christie Pflume at sweeper kept the Sharks at bay to start the half. The midfield kept pushing up towards the opponent's goal with Margot McTiernan, Laurel Nothel, Erin Rode and Maddy Stone winning many balls. These pressures lead to a great opportunity for the Patriettes when Alexis Leighton sent a perfectly placed ball in the right corner to tie the game at 1-1. The level of excitement in the game grew at this time as the teams traded opportunities. With less than 10 minutes the Sharks were able to score the game winning goal on a corner kick. The girls left disappointed but knew tomorrow would be another day.

Kelly McDonnell starts a forward drive Sunday brought with it a new game and a beautiful fall afternoon. The Patriettes were playing the Clarkstown 97 Red in the 3rd round of the State Cup. Right from the opening one could see the Patriettes came ready to play. Clarkstown worked hard to control the first two minutes but after that the Patriettes took charge. After a couple of near misses Mary Kate Kenny from her forward position crosses the ball thru the box and Jillian Gregory was perfectly positioned and knocked in the ball to give the Patriettes a 1-0 lead. However the red team would not go easily. They mounted a strong charge with less than 5 minutes in the half. The right wing for the Clarkstown a shot on goal which seemed destined to go in until Isabel Balady made an outstanding save to prevent the tying score. With renewed enthusiasm the Patriettes made a few more chargers towards the goal and Caitlyn Kaczinski at forward helped work the ball to Annie Kane who netted a goal to put the Patriettes up 2-0 at the half. During halftime the Patriettes trainer Pete gave the girls a few items to focus on for the next 30 minutes. The girls utilized their learning's to come out with fire. In the first 10 minutes Becky Reifler and Kelly McDonnell put balls into the back of the net to give the home team a 4-0 lead. This gave the Patriettes an opportunity to try out some new positions as the game went on. The rest of the half the Reds made some strong moves to the goal and got 2 goals. However, The Patriettes never lost focus and Becky Reifler put in her 2nd goal to put the game out of reach. With the win the Patriettes moved to the next round of the state cup in November. Congratulations girls and good luck this Saturday.

Caitlin Kaczynski works the ball upfield

Claudia Caracciolo clears the ball