Daily Sports Digest: Oct. 25

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Kennedy

Boys Soccer: Kennedy concluded its season on Tuesday with a 5-3 loss to rival Mepham on the road. Eric Friedlander, Chad Fuschillo and Steven Bien-Aime. The Cougars kept it close for the extent of the game, but they could not defeat the Pirates for a second time this season. Kennedy defeated Mepham 1-0 on Oct. 4. The team closes out the season with an overall record of 4-10-0 in Conference AA-III.

Boys Volleyball: Kennedy defeated visiting Hewlett in four sets: 27-25, 25-19, 20-25 and 25-10. The win was its fourth in a row as the team moves to 8-3 overall in Conference IV. Matt Goldhirsch had six kills on offense and Mike Schwartz matched him with six kills as well. The loss in the third set sparked the Cougars as they took over the decisive fourth set in convincing fashion. They will host Jericho on Thursday in their final match before the playoffs.

Mepham

Boys Soccer: Mepham won at home against district rival Kennedy on Tuesday by a 5-3 score. The Pirates avenged a 2-0 loss at Long Beach on Oct. 20 with the help of senior Steve Polimeni, who led the way with 2 goals as well as an assist. Harly Hosty contributed a goal and an assist to go along with scores from Dante Ippolito and Billy Dudley. Another positive note is that goalkeeper Steve Fotinos returned from injury after missing the last two games. Mepham finishes at 8-6-0 and will likely receive a mid-range seed in the Class AA playoffs.

Clarke

Boys Volleyball: Clarke fell in a close road match at Plainedge on Tuesday in straight sets for its first league loss of the season. The Rams came closet to a win each set, increasing their point total in each. Brandon Aran, Eitan Sheena and David Block led the way in the effort for Clarke, which is now 7-1 heading into a match at home on Friday against Valley Stream North.

Girls Volleyball: Clarke defeated Mineola in four sets on Tuesday afternoon. Julia Cast led the way on offense with 13 kills, and both Tiffany Winans and Kaitlyn Keiser added six kills. Keiser also led the serving game with seven aces. Clarke is now 7-7 and will host West Hempstead on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Field Hockey: Clarke broke a late-season three-game losing skid in a 4-0 win at Floral Park on Tuesday. Leading scorer Emma Foster put in two goals past Erin Lauria. Kristin Keller and Caileigh Berry also scored goals, all of which came in the first half for Clarke in a dominant overall performance. The Lady Rams finish their season at 9-3-3 and must wait to see their playoff fate this year.

East Meadow

Girls Tennis: Just a day after defeating Oyster Bay by a 4-3 score, East Meadow dropped its semifinal playoff match to Baldwin by the same 4-3 score on Tuesday. Despite a great effort from Carmela Cavallo and Julianna Cavallo, Baldwin won the decisive doubles match to move on to the finals. The Lady Jets close out their season with a 10-4 overall record.

Hewlett

Boys Soccer: Hewlett topped first place Division on Tuesday on the road by a slim 1-0 score. Trevor Ellman scored the games’ lone goal halfway through the first half to help the Bulldogs move to 9-3-2 in Conference A-II. Josh Alovis made eight saves in the shutout for Hewlett, which is expected to receive a mid-range seed in the Class A playoffs. 

Girls Soccer: Hewlett defeated Lynbrook by a 2-1 score to hand the Lady Owls their first loss in their last nine games. Erika Kaminer and Gabrielle Schwartz both scored in the first half for the Lady Bulldogs, whose defense fended off a late comeback on the day. Natalie Nidetch made 10 saves in the effort for Hewlett, which is now 4-5-5 and will wait to see its playoff fate this season.

Lawrence

Girls Soccer: Lawrence needed a late second half comeback to defeat visiting Sewanhaka on Tuesday, 2-1. The Golden Tornadoes trailed 1-0 midway through the half, but a pair of goals by Georgina Hudja, with the game-winner coming in the 72^nd minute, gave her team the win. Nicole Robinson had an exceptional match with 13 saves in net to help Lawrence close out its season with 4-3-3 overall record.

Boys Volleyball: Garden City gave a valiant effort against visiting New Hyde Park, but dropped the match in four sets. The Trojans won the opening set, 25-22, but faltered in the next three, putting up just 49 total points. Doug Donnelly and Matt Packman led the way in the effort for Garden City, which stands at 1-12 on the season.

Field Hockey: Garden City found itself in danger of its first loss of the season when Manhasset scored an early second half goal to lead 1-0. However, Krista Dampman broke through to score two goals in two minutes midway through the half to give the Lady Trojans a 2-1 lead. Garden City concludes the regular season at 13-0-1 and will receive the top seed in its playoff bracket.

Middle School: Salk's 8th grade football team continued their season on Tuesday with a 14-7 win over a strong Grand Avenue Middle School team. Carlos Correia, who had 92 yards rushing and a touchdown, Jared Wolfe, Nick Pernice and Jeremy Hughes, who had Salk’s other touchdown, led the offense. On defense, Danny Joyce, who recorded nine tackles, Jimmy Kelleher, Mike Rothberg, Danny O’Shea, and Matt DeBlaiso, led the Seahawks.  Jared Wolfe and Justin Cancel each had interceptions in the final quarter to preserve Salk's lead.  The boys' next game is Saturday at 12 p.m. against Wisdom Lane.  The game will be played on the turf at MacArthur. Come on down to support the team!

Division

Boys Soccer: Division lost its second game in a row following a close 1-0 loss to visiting Hewlett. The Blue Dragons had multiple chances to score on the Bulldogs, but great defense all-around kept the score as is. Division, which is 10-3-2, has a shot at a high seed in the Class A playoffs, set to begin on Oct. 28.

Island Trees

Girls Soccer: The Island Trees girls' varsity soccer team won three games last week, giving the Lady Dawgs a 10-game win streak as they improve to 12-1-0. On Oct. 12, the girls beat a tough Wantagh squad 2-0. Island Trees has dealt Wantagh its only 2 losses of the year. Allison Merrill scored in the first half off a pass from Olivia Johnston to lead 1-0 lead. Kristin Duthie then scored off a corner from Kristen Breihof. Brianna Ferrara made eight saves for the shutout. On Oct. 14, the Lady Dawgs defeated Floral Park in a rain-shortened game. The girls scored three goals in the first half, which was enough for the win. Merrill scored her team leading ninth goal and Duthie and Bridget Vilbig both added goals for a 3-0 win. Junior Brianna Ferrara made two saves for her fifth shutout of the season. On Oct. 17, the Lady Dawgs beat a resilient Manhasset team 3-2. Freshman Melissa Jorgensen opened the scoring off a beautiful pass from fellow freshman Michelle Merrill. After Manhasset scored with just 12 minutes left in the game, the Lady Dawgs answered 30 seconds later with a goal from freshman Alexa Dolgos and a minute after that from Vilbig to serve as the eventual game winner off a Breihof corner kick. On Tuesday, the Lady Dawgs honored their seniors as they play their last regular season home game against West Hempstead at 7 p.m. 

Girls Volleyball: Island Trees fell to a tough North Shore team on Tuesday in straight sets: 25-23, 25-14 and 25-19. Shamar Sanchez, Alannah Basile and Lauren Ecock led the way for the Lady Dawgs in the effort. Island Trees stands at 8-5 in Conference BC-II and will host Roosevelt on Thursday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

MacArthur

Girls Volleyball: MacArthur swept aside Plainview JFK at home on Tuesday: 25-23, 25-18 and 25-13. The Lady Generals, led by Samantha Barrett with 10 kills, progressively got stronger as the match went on. MacArthur is undefeated in Conference AA-II at 12-0 and will likely receive a top playoff seed in early November.

Boys Soccer: Long Beach won a 5-0 decision at Westbury on Tuesday in what was its most dominating performance of the season. Senior Dylan Palacio scored a pair of goals, and Bryan Cruz, Odir Hernandez and Elliot Badash each added a goal in the rout. Nicholas Alfonso needed just three saves for the shutout. Long Beach, which is 5-7-2, won three of its last four games, but will likely just miss out on the Class AA playoffs.

Girls Soccer: Lynbrook lost for the first time in nine games with a 2-1 result at home against Hewlett. Katie Loonie scored a second half goal for the Lady Owls, who fall to 6-3-4 in Conference A-III. They will likely receive a mid-range seed in the upcoming Class A playoffs.

Girls Soccer: Malverne/East Rockaway fell in a 2-0 game to new Conference champion Glen Cove on Tuesday. Both goals were scored in the second half on Kerri Vulpis, who made a season-high 20 saves against a furious Big Red offensive attack. Malverne/East Rockaway is now 6-6-0 as it heads into the playoffs.

Girls Volleyball: Malverne defeated Locust Valley on the road in five sets on Tuesday. Coming back from down 2-1 in the set count, Malverne used crisp offense and a strong serving game to win the final two sets: 25-22 and 25-18. Sayra Velasquez recorded five of her nice aces in the decisive set and Danielle Hines led the offense with 15 kills as well as six blocks. Malverne is now 11-2 and will play at North Shore on Thursday at 4:30 to ultimately decide the Conference BC-II championship.

Girls Soccer: Calhoun defeated Long Beach by a 4-2 final in a Monday night game to clinch the Conference AA-II regular season championship. Kristina Gandolfo had a hat trick for the Lady Colts and is currently second in Nassau County in goals scored with 21. Mary Hijazi scored the other goal and Michelle Iacono assisted twice along with one assist from Kayla Cappuzzo. Calhoun, which is 11-0-2, will host a make-up game against Port Washington on Wednesday afternoon. 

Girls Volleyball: Mineola dropped a competitive match to Clarke on Tuesday in four sets. The Lady Mustangs have lost two tough matches in a row, but still stand at 9-4 in Conference BC-I. They will host Carle Place on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Girls Soccer: South Side tied New Hyde Park on the road on Tuesday by a 1-1 final. New Hyde Park took the lead in the first minute of the second half, but the Lady Cyclones knotted up the score 20 minutes later by way of a goal from Michaela Lynch off of a corner kick from Tessa Considine. Kelsey Berki made 10 saves in the effort as South Side advances to 8-2-4 with the playoffs ahead.

Girls Tennis: On Oct. 16, the South Side and Massapequa girls’ varsity tennis teams dedicated its match as part of October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The match featured all the players wearing pink shirts, and playing with specially manufactured Wilson pink tennis balls (whose proceeds go towards breast cancer research).  Even though Massapequa won the afternoon’s match, all the athletes were winners, as they showed solidarity in helping to raise awareness for a horrible disease that affects too many people throughout our country.

Youth Softball: The Seaford Little Leagues 8U Girls travel softball team took the runners up title at the East Meadow Fall Classic, a softball tournament that took place through out the fall. Congratulations to all of the girls and the coaches for a job well done! The 2011 team members include: Jordan Ragona, Grace Rail, Jessie Kofod, Lauren McCaffrey, Victoria Del Prete, Alexandra Robins, Julia Galante, Hailey Galison, Lilliana Vitale, Katie Kern, Karyn Schaller, Anna Butler, MaryKate Corbett and Julia LaFemina. The Coaches of the Seaford team are Chuck Rigona, Carl Vitale, Chrissy Del Pret and Chrissy Kern.

Girls Volleyball: Seaford continued its undefeated season on Tuesday with a win at East Rockaway in four sets: 25-19, 25-19, 16-25 and 25-16. Meaghan Curley controlled the offense for the Lady Vikings with 16 assists as well as four kills. Emily Palermo stepped up on the defensive side with 17 total digs against the Rocks. Seaford is in first place at 13-0 and will play Glen Cove on the road at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.

Field Hockey: Seaford fell short in a close match to Locust Valley on the road on Tuesday by way of a 2-0 score. Goalkeeper Diana Rice made 15 saves in her final game for the team as the Lady Vikings close out their season with a 4-11-0 record in Conference I.

Girls Tennis: No. 2 Wantagh came so close to a Conference A-IV championship on Tuesday, but fell short to No. 1 Bethpage on the road by a 4-3 final. Laura Mallon and Stephanie Zerner dropped the decisive match in a great overall team effort. Wantagh closes out the championship bid with a 9-3 record.

Boys Volleyball: West Hempstead defeated Jericho in four sets on Tuesday at home: 25-21, 15-25, 25-21 and 25-16. The offense had one of its best games on the years as Pat D’Haiti led the way with 10 kills, Chris McAvoy had nine kills and Tom Wood added eight kills. Eric Finkelstein set many of the points up as he racked up 30 assists on the day. West Hempstead is now 5-6 and will host Roslyn on Thursday night at 6 p.m.

Girls Volleyball: West Hempstead topped Wheatley on the road on Tuesday in five great sets to move to 8-5 overall in Conference BC-I. Wheatley won the first set, but the Lady Rams came back to win the following two: 25-17 and 25-18. After the match was tied again at 2-2, West Hempstead closed it out with a 25-17 win in the final set. Christolia Butler got it done on both sides of the net with 10 blocks as well as 10 kills. Lizzy Roberts played an exceptional game as well with 29 total assists.