Maggie and Taylor prepare for battle The Garden City Wildcats closed out their inaugural LIJSL season last Saturday by visiting the Field of Dreams, home of the Massapequa Lady Thunder. There was to be no letdown on this final day of the season. The Coaching staff provided a spacious van complete with washable markers for the Wildcats to decorate the windows as well as their faces. They arrived at the Field sky-high and rarin' to go. As they took to the field-turf in the cold November rain the washable ink began to run from their faces, creating a Halloween-type effect as the girls looked to complete a masterpiece of a first season.

In the early going much of the play took place in the middle third along the far side of the field with both teams trading numerous throw-ins. Massapequa was moving three and four players into the attack and was stifling the Wildcats transition game for a time. GC made a quick move upfield to attack breaking the stalemate as the crowd took notice. Megan Seel had the ball and advancing into the Thunder zone sensed that the girls needed to switch the field. She found an unmarked Taylor Gladd down the left who was able to settle and shoot, releasing a left footed shot into the net for a 1-0 GC lead at the six minute mark. Massapequa, possessing some size in the back and in midfield tried to penetrate the GC defense which was anchored by Celia Concannon, Marlee Rich, Devon Heaney, Gabriella Rogers and Kelly Donovan. Captain Emma Wieland did a fine job in goal for GC during the first half making two saves and rolled the ball out to open defenders to keep possession. Jacqui Brattan worked well in center with Kelly George on her right wing. In the 11th minute Kate Farrell gained possession of a pass and took off with the ball heading toward the left corner flag. As she cut toward the near post she fired a shot that the goalkeeper initially saved but couldn't control. Maggie Casey swooped in and chipped over the GK to increase GC's lead to 2-0. Massapequa, who have played in numerous close contests this season continued to try and work the ball down low inside the Wildcats end and scored on a defensive miscommunication to cut the lead to 2-1 just minutes before halftime.

Megan, Gabby, Emma work on the Van The rain started coming in sheets as the second half commenced but with little wind and the nice turf the quality of the match did not suffer. Garden City kicked it up a notch determined to expand their lead but Massapequa was doing a nice job closing down the normal passing lanes. The Lady Thunder created some pressure on second half goalie Gabby Rogers. Jacqui Brattan did a fine job tracking into a defensive midfield position.and the game was contested in the middle third for a few minutes. The Lady Thunder tried to work through the left side of the field but their attackers could not out race, out fox or out do Kelly Donovan whose speed and quick footwork quelled all threats. Likewise her defensive mates Marlee Rich and Celia Concannon battled through the slick conditions to clear balls. Celia made some menacing solo runs up the sideline which shifted the Massapequa defense a bit as they had to counter the attacking threat of the GC right back. This would pay dividends as Kate Farrell was unmarked in the middle of the box and scored from a Kelly G cross but Kate was ruled to have been offside. Undeterred , Farrell scored minutes later and GC was on top 3-1. As the rainfall increased it became evident that these Cats liked the water. Sensing the season only had several minutes left the girls played some nice soccer and were able to open up the field so the Lady Thunder defense was less compact. GC Captain Emma Wieland took advantage of the space and went on a run outmanuevering 2 defenders to place a shot high to the right of the goalkeeper for a 4-1 Wildcat advantage. Minutes from full time, Emma got behind the defense and drilled a shot inside the left post to cap a 5-1 victory for GC.

Waterlogged but Victorious !! Afterwards, the Wildcats enjoyed a post game pizza party at Coach's house along with a "Dancing Wildcats" DVD show capturing some of their funniest moments on the field courtesy of Mr. Concannon. The girls completed an amazing first season going 15-3-1 in all competitions that included an unbeaten weekend in Windsor after a slow start at Covanta. In LIJSL play the girls had a plus 30 goal difference with 10 different scorers. The team looks forward to improving during the offseason and as they like to belt out before the games: Wildcats: Rocks on Socks ! Wildcats: Rocks in the Box, Wildcats: are the best ! Better than: All the rest ! Go GC, Go GC, Go!! Keep your head in the game!!