The club would like to thank the volunteers and supporters of their booths at this year's most enjoyable Oyster Fest. What a great time to be living in Oyster Bay! Although the intramural teams missed playing over the weekend, the travel teams were hard at it further afield. Here is an update on the last two weekends' games.

Sal Albanese's Tornadoes beat Oceanside 3:1 at home on Sunday, Oct. 21. Having lost their last two games the girls and coach were hungry for a win. Natasha LaBranche was first to put the Tornadoes on the scoreboard with a perfectly executed breakaway. Samantha Smith followed with a beautifully taken shot into the upper right-hand corner of the net. The scoring was completed by Elena Albanese after a great pass from Darla Boccio. Gabby Sirow was superb on goal.

During Oyster Fest the Hurricanes triumphed over the hitherto unbeaten Jericho Comets. A heart-warming victory of 5:2 was notched up by this hard-working team.

The game was an exciting one due in part to the fact that the teams and coaches were familiar with one another after a series of scrimmages held earlier in the season. The Hurricanes finished on top with goals from Kristen Falcone, Lucy Wallace and Rachel Nuzzolese. Krista Fazzio was assigned stopper position by the coach and had a tremendous game shutting down most of Jericho's attempts at goal.

The win placed the Hurricanes at the top of their division with an eye on moving up into Division Three. Both players and coach are determined to achieve their goal!

On Saturday, Oct. 20 the girls faced the Bayside Devils and were happy to continue their winning streak with a score of 3:1. Lucy Wallace made a great goal after breaking away from two Bayside defenders while Rachel Nuzzolese continued her goal-scoring streak after an exciting run at goal. Kristen Falcone scored the third goal after receiving a beautiful pass from Julie Albanese - she continued to knock on Bayside's door till the end of the game.

Krista Fazzio continued her multiple role in both stopper and forward positions and played an outstanding game as did Evie Pierrepont, Jaqueline DelRosso, Katie Link, Elizabeth Lopez, Isabelle Mirman and Sarah Callahan. The win was dedicated to Brittany Gouse who will be missed the rest of the season due to a broken arm.

The Oyster Bay Stormers jumped for joy after their first win on Saturday, the 20th away to the Plainview/Old Bethpage Panthers. Over the last few weeks the girls had begun to find their groove and with the help of some fine tuning by coach Anne Blohm, a change in several positions helped to make this team click, thereby securing a 1:0 victory over the opposition. The hard won goal fell to the boot of veteran Stormer Meghan Blohm after a rush at goal late in the second half.

Having sustained the Stormers in goal for the first five games Morgan was moved to halfback sweeper putting to good use her tough offensive qualities. The power forwards of the team, Meghan Blohm, Nicolette Gotti and Bridget Hatton worked well together, keeping the ball in their opponents' territory for most of the game. Emma Lind, the team's star fullback, successfully kept the ball out of the Stormers' goal area instructing her defensive team throughout the match. New goalkeeper Danielle played a great game saving all shots at goal including a dubiously awarded penalty in the second half. This team will be one to beat in the upcoming spring season.

The Oyster Bay Blizzards enjoyed their fourth consecutive win over the Oyster Fest weekend. They beat the Bayside Bratpack 4:0. Goals came from Cordi Craig, Monique Kelly, Denise Neuendorf and Emily Prey. Bayside's attackers were kept firmly in check by Nicole Podpirka. This was another impressive team effort on behalf of all the players.

On Oct. 20 the Hewlett Blue Devils suffered a 2:1 defeat at the hands of this fine team. Molly Kirkpatrick and Addie Reilly provided a two goal lead that had their opponents struggling to even the score. Molly's goal was a blast into the upper right-hand corner of the net. Addie's was a great solo effort where she showed amazing dribbling skills beating two defenders on the way. Courtney Collins and Nicole Podpirka put together a strong and determine defensive effort at the back.

With their eyes firmly set on emulating the achievements of the 'bib' boys and girls playing travel soccer the pre-kindergarten and kindergarten soccer clinics are now underway. After a hectic first day, plus some poor weather, the program has settled in well. The club's board would like to thank coordinator Lisa Herrera and her able assistants for the wonderful job they are doing with this age group.

Around 95 enthusiastic and eager-to-learn budding soccer players have formed six kindergarten and four pre-k teams that play on Saturday mornings at Vernon Middle School for one hour. The youngsters learn and practice basic soccer skills for the first half hour and then scrimmage for the last half hour. The games come as a well deserved reward after the half hour of drills. It is great fun, not to mention adorable, to watch the youngest members of the club play the game of soccer. All supporters are welcome!