The Jericho Comets girls U-11 soccer team took home the first place trophies in the 2002 East Meadow Indoor Soccer Tournament held at the Sportime Soccer facility in Bethpage on Jan. 27.

The Comets played a five game, round robin format, with each game lasting eleven minutes, and were undefeated, coming away with three victories and two ties.

It took the first two games for the Comets to get their offense in gear, but a strong ball control game led by Melanie Checkla and Amanda Coron and excellent goal tending by Lindsey Dubb held that Levittown Lady Riders and the East Meadow Blade Runners scoreless for two 0-0 ties.

The Comet's offense got untracked in their third game as Michelle Bogdan and Hannah Rosen scored goals and the defense, lead by Jessica Liss, Alie Neher and Dani Algaze, held the Levittown Red Devils Scoreless in a 2-0 win.

After a 2-1 victory over the Oceanside Thunderbolts in which Michelle Fusco scored two beautiful goals, the Comets found themselves locked in a dead even tie for first place with the girls from East Meadow. Each team had 2 wins and 2 ties, the teams had tied each other, they each had 3 shut outs and they had each outscored their respective opponents by a total of 3 goals. In other words, every tie breaker was even going into the final 2 games of the tournament.

East Meadow played first and with the Comets looking on, shut out a tough Oceanside team 1-0. Now Jericho would have to hold the Elmont Retro Stars scoreless in order to win the tournament. In addition, the Comets would have to score at least two goals themselves in order to capture the first place trophies.

While Elmont had played strongly throughout the tournament, they were no match for the fired up Comets. Michelle Bogdan opened the scoring and Hannah Rosen, Mollie Rosen and Samantha Falk followed in short order. Even with a four goal lead however, the tournament came down to the final minutes because a last second goal by Elmont would have given the tournament to East Meadow based on a greater number of shutouts. But the Comets' ball control game prevailed and as time expired the score stood Jericho Comets 4 and Elmont Retro Stars 0.

The girls were thrilled to be presented with their first place trophies at the awards ceremony following the competition. The team cheered for Lindsey Dubb, who had never played keeper before but filled in for Sheri Feigenbaum (who came down with a stomach virus as the tournament was about to start) and gave up only one goal in five games. And they cheered for Samantha Falk whose remarkable footwork and deft ball control skills earned her the award as the outstanding forward in the tournament.

The East Meadow Tournament was an indication that the Jericho Comets, who have been training all winter in preparation for the upcoming spring season, are making progress toward their goal of playing a game marked by ball control, position play and efficient passing. The outdoor season commences on March 9 with the first round of the Waldbaum's Cup.