The Commack Blasters were accepted to the six team top flight at the 2008 Jersey Area Girls Showcase Tournament at the Mercer County Fields in New Jersey. The quality of the field was deep in the two three-team brackets and the Blasters opened the weekend with a bracket cross-over game against the Howell United Eclipse. With temperatures in the upper eighties, two late goals by Howell dealt a 2-0 loss to Commack.

The Blasters were dominant throughout the first half and had two great opportunities for Saulty that were just beyond her touch on the left post in the second half of the opening stanza. The Eclipse only crossed midfield twice in the thirty minute half as the Commack defensive foursome kept the ball forward throughout the match. Liz, Alyssa, LB, Jen, and Campy did an effective job of keeping Steph's first half work tab to a minimum.

In the second half, Howell came out with a more spirited attack that the midfield of Taryn and Nicky were interrupting by winning most of the 50/50 balls. In minute eleven, an unfortunate bounce went over LB's head on the right side defense and was perfectly corralled by an onrushing Eclipse striker. Her shot was slid under Stephanie from about ten yards for a 1-0 ice-breaker goal. Just one minute later, Howell's coach received a yellow card for dissent keeping that streak alive in every game we have seen this team. Katie, Kiersten, Carly, and Tori took turns up top to gain the equalizer and pressure continued to build. With approximately ten minutes remaining the team shifted to a 3-4-3 alignment and then pressed more aggressively. This left the back slightly exposed in a second goal that was the result of a 3-on-2 attack by Howell.

The loss does not reflect the solid possession game demonstrated by Commack here. Meredith was excellent in transition on the outside during this game with Katie G. and Meghan both giving exceptional efforts. Given that this was a cross-over match, Commack still controlled their own fate as two wins inside the bracket still kept championship round hopes alive after this opening game loss.

College coaches attending this game included Fairleigh-Dickenson, Dickinson College, Hamilton, Drexel, and SUNY/Purchase among others.

Date: June 14, 2008     Venue: Mercer County Park - Princeton NJ