Monthly Archives: January 2010
New York Sharks 50 @ Jersey Justice 8
Cartaret, New Jersey, May 1, 2010
Despite being a tier 2 team, the Jersey Justice (3-1) have shown that they are no pushovers. Since joining the IWFL they have been playoff contenders and last year they just missed going to the championship game by 1 point. The Justice are having another good season being undefeated as they hosted the equally undefeated New York Sharks (4-0).
It was a very warm and slightly humid evening in the Garden State. Temperatures were in the low 80’s at kick-off time. The Sharks had lost the coin toss and kicked off to the Justice. Last week the Justice used a very strong running attack to victory against the Binghamton Tiger Cats, rushing for over 300 yards. New York was ready for this.
Jersey tried to run the ball on their first drive and were stopped cold by the Sharks defense. Actually the Justice lost yards and were quickly forced to punt.
The Sharks started their first drive of the game with a quick pass from Karen Mulligan to Lauren Pringle. It was good for 10 yards and a first down on the Jersey 43-yard line. New York then showed Jersey what a running attack looks like and after a 21 yard run by Kathy Holloman and then a 22 yard run by Mulligan the Sharks were on the board. Placekicker Kriste McTamaney added the extra point and the Sharks had the lead 7-0 with 11:15 to go in the first quarter.
New York’s defense continuted to dominate the Justice and they were forced to punt again after only 3 plays from scrimmage. All night long the Sharks defense proved to much for the Jersey offense. But it was the Jersey defense that provided the scoring firepower for the home team.
After the Justice punted the ball back to the Sharks, Mulligan looked to her right and underthrew to her receiver . Safety Maegan Larsen read the play and jumped in front of intended receiver Lauren Pringle to intercept the ball at the Sharks’ 44-yard line. Mulligan tried to catch Larsen but she was too fast as she sprinted into the endzone for a 56 yard interception return. The Justice went for the 2-point conversion and Larsen pitched the ball to Leslie Busch who ran into the endzone for the score. The Justice shocked the Sharks with the score as New York was behind for the first time this season, 8-7 with 9:11 left in the first quarter.
While the Justice touchdown brought the home crowd to their feet, it seemed to wake up the Sharks more. On New York’s next possession, they put their trust in Holloman as she rushed 5 times in a row and picked up 65 yards. For the final 10 yards into the endzone, Mulligan threw a bullet to Adrienne Smith at the 10-yard line and she ran into the endzone for the score and the lead. On the extra point attempt the snap bounced to the holder and New York failed to get the extra point. But the Sharks regained the lead 13-8 and never looked back again.
New York kept their foot on the accelerator as Jersey started their next possession on their own 28-yard line. Defensive end Lakisha Grant broke through the line and grabbed quarterback Larsen in the backfield for a 15-yard loss. But while she was falling to the ground, Larsen tried to throw the ball away and the Justice were hit with a grounding penalty. It was now second down and Jersey was back to their own 8-yard line. Larsen faked a handoff and then took a step towards the line of scrimmage. She saw Fatima Carvey shoot through the line and Larsen quickly decided to change direction from the rush. She ran to her right but there were more Sharks chasing her and she was eventually tackled by Keisha Salmon at the Justice 1-yard line. On third down from the shotgun formation, running back Laurie Fitzpatrick was handed the ball but again Carvey smashed through and tackled the runner in the endzone for a safety.
On the ensuing free kick Smith fielded the ball on her own 41-yard line. Running up a huge hole up the middle of the field she ran all the way back to the Jersey 1-yard line. From there Holloman punched the ball into the endzone for the touchdown. The Sharks went for the 2-point conversion and Mulligan lofted the ball into the back of the endzone that was caught by Jen Blum. This made the score 23-8 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter was more of the same athe defense shut down the Justice offense and the Sharks ran the ball at will. New York scored twice in the second quarter, one on a 20 yard run by Holloman that was set up by a nifty 47 yard run the play before. The other Sharks score came on a 29-yard pass play to Chante Bonds. While Holloman didn’t score the touchdown she helped on the drive with 2 runs of 17 and 15 yards and then caught the pass for the 2-point conversion. This made the score at halftime, New York 37- Jersey 8.
In the second half, the New York defense kept up their wall and denied the Justice from ever getting into the red zone. On offense, the Sharks used the big play to score two more times. One score came on a 59-yard run by Holloman for her third touchdown of the game and the other touchdown came on a 63-yard pass from Mulligan to Smith.
The final score was Sharks 50-Justice 8. New York’s defense was aggressive all night and prevented Jersey from scoring or even getting close. Except for the one mistake, New York was firing on all cylindars. Holloman being the big offensive star rushing for 268 yards with 3 touchdowns scored. But while the win kept the Sharks record unblemished, they have only a week to get ready for a big game against the divisional rival Pittsburgh Passion. The Passion are only 1 game behind the Sharks in the standings and the Sharks will need a win to help bolster their chances for the playoffs.
The New York Sharks will host the Pittsburgh Passion next Saturday at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. Kick-off will be at 3:30pm (EDT). If you cannot make it to the game, listen to Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell describe all of the action on WFNradio.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Sharks | 23 | 14 | 13 | 0 | 50 |
| Jersey Justice | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (11:15) Mulligan 1 yard run (McTamaney kick)
NJ – (09:11) Larsen 56 yard interception return (Busch run)
NY – (04:53) Smith 15 yard pass from Mulligan (Run failed)
NY – (03:42) Safety
NY – (02:53) Holloman 1 yard run (Blum pass from Mulligan)
Second Quarter
NY – (12:28) Holloman 20 yard run (Pass failed)
NY – (02:44) Bonds 29 yard pass from Mulligan (Holloman pass from Mulligan)
Third Quarter
NY – (13:36) Smith 63 yard pass from Mulligan (Kick failed)
NY – (03:58) Holloman 59 yard run (McTamaney kick
Victory at Victory!
Staten Island, New York, February 27, 2010
It was another successful football event as the 4th Annual Football Clinic for Girls was held on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at Victory Indoor Sports Arena on Staten Island. This free all-day clinic, hosted by the Fins Up! Foundation for Female Athletics and produced by the players and staff of the NY Sharks was joined by Adam Koets of the NY Giants who was on hand (with his Super Bowl ring) to help coach the girls.
Melissa Pickett, Sharks Assistant Director of Community Events & Appearances, worked alongside Sharks team owner Andra Douglas to organize the camp. Former player and coach, Beth Nugent was Head Coach of the event while Adam Koets, guard and center for the NY Giants, coached and mentored the participants.
Success? It was the largest group yet as NY Sharks players were instrumental in signing up nearly 175 participants from ages 12 to 18 (although some younger girls just came to watch and a few older ones with thoughts of trying out for the team). Former player Veta Williams brought two bus loads of girls from the school where she teaches on Long Island. Groups that attended included: the Girls Scouts; Girls, Inc; and The Young Women’s Leadership Foundation.
How did the day go? The group was split up into teams and taught different player positions as well as how to hold, catch, handoff and throw the football. Drills continued with hand and foot placement culminating in actual groups of 7 on 7 flag football games.
While football was the sport, the focus was to teach confidence, team spirit and most of all to have fun without any pressure to win. Along with teaching the basic skills of football came Life Skills where Adam and girlfriend Taya Wyss talked about goal setting and responsibilities.
Taya Wyss is part of a group called WAGs, Wives and Girlfriends (of NY Giants.) She met the Sharks when they were working at a Giants game and, after talking to some of the Shark players learned about their camp. “I love football and the thought of empowering young women”, Taya said. “ I felt compelled to assist in creating awareness of both the Girls Football Camp and women’s tackle football”.
Taya was able to come up with some funding, particularly the cost of the buses that took the girls to and from four locations in NYC. She eagerly attended the event and was able to speak not only with the girls but also their parents, who said that at first were not keen on their daughters playing a rough contact sport.
Last year’s success had Jenna and Paige Goldsack, who play lineman on a boys tackle football team at New Jersey’s Rutherford High School. I was not aware that there was yet another high school tackle football player, now 17-year-old Emma Lieberman, with a position of backup QB on the opposing Tenafly’s team. At that time, Emma played on the same “team” during the JPD Program. Emma returned this year.
What was her experience last year? “It was a lot of fun, last year especially being able to play with other girls for the first time,” said Emma, “and at Giants Stadium. I was also able to play positions other than quarterback”. Although she felt that she could teach, she wanted to do the program like everyone else, although I’m told that she did help out a bit.
“This year with the coaches being different, I learned techniques from another point of view. The JPD Program was also the first time I’ve been coached by women and found them to be just as good as the male coaches.”
Emma would love to see the camp continue saying, “It gives girls a chance to play without having to necessarily join a team and to see if they like it or not as football is such a complicated sport and very physical.”
Emma has been lucky in her participation of football having played since she was in elementary school. “As a male dominated sport the JPD Program shows that girls can play football as well. In so far as development during the camp, staying with a team for the day helps to build that team spirit and a more positive role for girls.”
The NY Sharks Annual Girls Football Camp is open to any girl between the ages of 12 and 17 regardless of their residence. All participants received a commemorative IWFL wristband, a NY Giants tee-shirt and free tickets to a New York Sharks game.
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