Garden City Girls Soccer Advances

Taking to the field Saturday, the varsity girls soccer team was fired up and ready to take on their first round opponent, the Bethpage Golden Eagles. With a terrific crowd to support the girls, there was a strong buzz in the air – maybe it was the sound of the vuvuzelas that some of the boys soccer team had in the stands! 

As the sixth seed, the Garden City girls were taking on number 11 Bethpage and looking to avoid a first round trap game with getting out of the gate quickly. And quickly they did, much to the delight of the big crowd. With early pressure on the Bethpage defense down the left sideline, with several strong runs from Liz Stutzmann, Victoria Aldrich and Barbara Sullivan, the girls had Bethpage on their heels.

The Trojans scoring got started, as numerous attacks have this season, with a throw-in from inside the 18-yard box. One of the strengths for Garden City has been the throws of Michelle Rotondo and Christina Cesarini down the sidelines. But once inside the 18 they are even more dangerous as both can reach deep in to the box.

This time it was Rotondo flexing her back and tossing a ball that was flicked by Delsey Attardi to Jess Stein inside the six-yard box. And Stein stepped at the ball and calmly buried the first playoff goal for a 1-0 Garden City lead just over three minutes into the game. Stein continued to press on the attack with several good chances from outside the box – one on a beautiful through ball from Elizabeth Mahoney that was picked out of the corner by the Bethpage keeper with a nice save.

The Golden Eagles tried to step up their game and for about a 10-minute flurry midway through the first half they had the Garden City defense backed up in their own end. However the quickness of the Garden City defense kept Bethpage from taking any dangerous shots at keeper Tracey Rendano. With stopper Courtney Studdert all over the ball in the middle of the field and defenders Amanda Murolo and Cesarini battling in the 18-yard box, the Trojans were able to set up the counter attack.    

With a little under 10 minutes left in the first half Garden City began to exert more pressure on Bethpage and again it was down the left sideline. This time it was Sullivan and Attardi winning 50-50 balls and pushing the ball forward. With a strong run down the sideline, Attardi pushed the ball off of the defender for another dangerous throw from Rotondo inside the box. And this time her long throw deflected off a defender's head and over the on rushing keeper for an own goal to give the Trojans the all-important second goal of the game.

The second half was all Garden City as the girls dominated play up and down the field. And just like the first half the girls were able to put a ball into the goal quickly. This time it was Sullivan putting Garden City up 3-0 at about the 12-minute mark. Sullivan took a pass from Taylor Hennig deep in the box with two defenders draped on her. Sullivan deftly turned on the ball with a great post up move and fired a shot high and into the corner of the goal out of the reach of the goalie. The goal was a great effort that showed off Sullivan's touch, strength and finishing ability.

Looking to finish off any chance of a Bethpage comeback, the Trojans jumped on every loose ball and just three minutes later it was Sullivan again getting a terrific pass from Hennig that put her in great position in the box. This time, while facing the goal, Sullivan had to battle through two defenders to get off a solid strike for her second goal of the game and the 4-0 Garden City lead.

Capping off the scoring it was Addie Zebrowski taking a long punt from keeper Rendano and breaking through the defense. As she got control of the ball at the top of the box she had a defender closing in on her. Just as the defender took her down with a tackle from behind Zebrowski was able to finish with a shot into the corner of the goal beyond the outstretched arms of the keeper. Garden City was up 5-0 and all that was left was closing out their eleventh shutout of the season - which they did. 

The only blemish from an otherwise flawless performance was an injury suffered by sweeper Cesarini. With about six minutes left, she got to a loose ball but on the challenge was tripped up and looked to suffer an ankle sprain. Cesarini not only anchors the defense but is an important piece of the Garden City offense as she takes the corner kicks and free kicks, as well as having a dangerous throw in. The Trojans' trainers will look to help get Cesarini ready for the second round game Wednesday as the girls take on number 14 seed Clarke High School at home.