Lady Cougars Bitten Hard by Island Trees Bulldogs

Coming off a big win against Herricks just six days ago, the Lady Cougars knew they had a tough game ahead of them, playing conference leaders Island Trees yesterday afternoon.  Injuries and heavy winds contributed to their 18-14 fall to the Bulldogs.

Coach Keri Andree knew her girls would have to play tough given all the injuries and illness.

"We have a lot of girls out today including our goalie," she said.

With the odds were stacked and the wind not cooperating, the Cougars knew they would need to make smart, short passes.

The first half was a battle for momentum, with the Cougars scoring first after a strong play in front of the net by Kerri Baum, who had four goals on the day. The Bulldogs, who scored two quick goals to take a 2-1 lead early in the game, controlled the next two minutes.

Kennedy's Morgan Kitton scored off a back-handed toss into the net to tie the game up at two. With that goal, Kennedy had taken the momentum and scored another two goals - one by Kitton and the other by Samantha Rothery to take a 4-2 lead.

The half continued to be fast passed with a lot of back and forth play until with a minute left to play Island Trees scored three goals. Those three goals brought the half's total to 22-12 for Kennedy and 10 for the Bulldogs.

Those last three goals really hurt the Cougars momentum going into the half. Kennedy came out for the second half ready to fight to keep their lead and at first it looked really promising. Morgan Kitton scored right off the face off five seconds into the half. 

Unfortunately for the Lady Cougars the Bulldogs bite was too much to handle.

"We came out with a lot of heart," Andree said. "But we just didn't win as many draw controls in the second half." 

Strong performances were made by Morgan Kitton who had five goals and Kerri Baum who had four goals really kept their team going. Goalie Alissa Salvaggio played hard and made seven goals when the pressure was on.

The Cougars fell to 2-5 with the loss and will look to bounce back against Roslyn on Friday with a 4:30 p.m. contest at Kennedy High.