Softball

Coach: Kevin Mercier

A three-game winning streak pulled the Vikings back to 5-5 in the league and 8-6 overall. The first win came against Hewlett by a score of 18-3. Winning pitcher Meg Schenkel was 5 for 5 with two doubles and six RBIs. Kelly Henry walked and scored in all five of her plate appearances. Kaitlyn Silka and Amanda Magnuson both had three hits and the game ended by run rule on Katie Behar's RBI single. Schenkel and Cassandra Knox limited Hewlett to three hits in six innings.

The next game saw the Vikings avenge an earlier loss to Bethpage by winning 8-7 in dramatic fashion. After taking a 6-3 lead into the seventh, thanks to a two-RBI triple by Liz Muscarello, who later scored on Kiki Palazzo's bunt, the Vikings went to the bottom of the inning trailing 7-6. Meg Schenkel doubled home Cassandra Knox to tie the game and then after Cori Gasser reached, Kaitlyn Silka ended the game with a shot to the fence scoring Schenkel.

The third win was also in come-from-behind fashion against Wantagh 11-4. A poor defensive third inning left North Shore trailing 4-2. A four-run fourth inning, highlighted by a two-RBI single from Cori Gasser gave North Shore a 6-4 lead. Gasser followed up her key hit with a great play, throwing out a Wantagh player at the plate in the top of the fifth. The game was put away in the bottom of the sixth when North Shore scored five more times. Tia Calozzo had a two-run single in the inning. Cassandra Knox relieved Meg Schenkel in the sixth and retired all five batters she faced. The pitching tandem combined to strike out ten in the game.

Baseball

By Shaun Manning

The Vikings went into their bye week riding a 7-2 record and in first place in the conference. The Vikings used the off week to scrimmage two of the top teams in Conference AA-Massapequa and Calhoun. Sandwiched in between was a non-league game against Baldwin.

North Shore took the drive down to Baldwin on Wednesday to battle the Bruins. The Vikings gave the ball to Billy Melillo, who responded by throwing 7 innings, allowing 4 hits, striking out eight and allowing no earned runs. The offense was sparked by the hustle and energy of second baseman Calvin Kyrkostas, who had consecutive bunt hits to start Viking rallies. Calvin later added a triple down the right field line to close out his day. If Calvin sparked the offense, Freddy Benyo carried it by going 3-4 with a double, home run and two RBI's. The Vikings cruised to the 10-1 victory.

In the two scrimmages this week, the Vikings learned that they belong. Calhoun , many feel, is one of the best hitting teams in the county and Massapequa is a perennial county champ. The Vikings more than held their own and realized that they could play with anybody.

The Vikings are currently ranked eighth in the county by Newsday's Power Poll. Also this week, Newsday released the county statistics. Two Vikings were mentioned. Billy Melillo is second in the county in batting average, home runs and RBI's. John Mulder is seventh in average, batting .516.

Be sure to come to the Glen Cove stadium Friday night, May 6 as North Shore and Glen Cove battle for bragging rights in what could quite possibly be a playoff preview!

Golf

Coach: Andrew Richter

The golf team played two high-quality matches against two good teams this week. On Tuesday, April 19, the team defeated Glen Cove High School at Nassau Country Club. This was the Vikings third win of the season...already more wins than the team had all last season. On Thursday, April 21, the team lost a tight match to Wheatley High School at Glen Head Country Club. The difference between a win (with a season sweep of Wheatley) and a loss was a mere three strokes.

Boy's Lacrosse

Coach: Bernard Dellaquila

After a three-game losing streak, the Boy's lacrosse team bounced back with a three-game winning streak. The team's overall record is 7-3, while its conference record stands at 4-2.

In a Conference III game on Tuesday, the Vikings posted a 13-6 win over Roslyn. Captains Joe Valasiadis and Chris Palliser led the scoring with 5 and 3 goals respectively. Dan Grande, Ronnie Irving, Taylor McGrath, Rob Panowich and Nick Pappas added one goal apiece to round out the scoring. It was Pappas' first varsity goal.

In non-league action, North Shore defeated LI Lutheran on Thursday and Friends Academy on Saturday. Versus LuHi, Palliser had another good day with 4 goals and 3 assists. Valasiadis had a goal and 4 assists, while Irving added 3 goals and an assist. Defenseman Mike Marrone scored his second goal of the season in the third quarter.

The game of the week, however, was Saturday's come-from-behind victory over Friends. After a sloppy first half, where they trailed 6-3, the Vikings exploded for 12 goals in the third and fourth quarters. Valasiadis posted another 5-goal performance, while Palliser added another 3 for the season. After sitting out two games due to injury, Matt Brancaccio returned for a 7 point game on 4 goals and 3 assists. The defense, led by Rob Post and Matt Meade, held Friends to a single goal in the fourth quarter.