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Welcome to the home of the
Massapequa Stars
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Success is no accident.
It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all,
love of what you are doing or learning to do.
Pele
Stars finish 2nd in National Elite Womens Soccer Showcase
How do you describe the heart of a winner? Do you look at how they respond when they are facing adversity? Can you measure how deep they have to dig to find the strength to overcome the physical and emotional battle in front of them? This weekend the Stars were invited to play in the National Elite Womens Soccer Showcase and, while they would not finish in first place, they walked away winners.
On Saturday, the Stars would match up against FC Stars of Massachusetts and the Connecticut Arsenal and would face adversity almost immediately as they would only have 11 players suit up against FC Stars. This left no room for error so when Samantha was forced out because of her asthma and later Daniella as well, the Stars would have to play down. It is difficult enough trying to beat the FC Stars of Mass at full strength let alone when you are fielding less than 11. As you would expect the FC Stars would control the match and win 3-1. For the second match, the Stars would add a player as Madison made it back from an early morning basketball game. Unfortunately, it would not help as the Stars would lose to the Arsenal 3-0. Down 2 games with 2 games to go on Sunday, the coaching staff would challenge the team to dig deep within themselves to see if they really wanted to play at a level they expected. The coaches left it up to the players to either walk away or come to play.
On Sunday morning, the Stars were scheduled to play Western United. Not only did every player come back, but Rachel and Nicolette were back, giving the Stars much needed subs that were missing the day before. Something else was different. The Stars were more aggressive, more focused, unwilling to lose. They would score two early goals as both Erica and Taylor were able to score after getting beautiful crossing passes, giving the Stars twice as many goals as they had scored the day before in 2 games. The defense was not willing to break as they stopped every drive the Western United would make. Kara would make every save in the 2-0 Stars win. As the match was ending, a Western United player would take out her frustration on Amanda. As Amanda was making a run down the left side of the field, she was hit so hard by the United player that she was flipped over and fell awkwardly on her shoulder and back. She would remain on the ground for several minutes as a trainer assigned to the field knelt down beside her trying to find out what was wrong. Amanda would eventually be helped off the field but would not play for the rest of the game. Shelby was also hit very hard, hitting her head on the turf and getting up a bit woozy. The Stars would finish with the 2-0 win, forcing a faceoff against the East Islip Red Dragons in the final game.
The history between these two team is well documented. The Stars had won the most recent match between these two team, resulting in the Covanta Championship. The Stars were not only looking to finish strong but they were also concerned about Amanda being able to play in this match. The battle looked like it would favor East Islip as Amanda sat on the sidelines at the start of this match. The Red Dragons would take an early 1-0 lead after a missed out of bounds call resulted in a shot getting past Kara and would remain 1-0 going into the half. With just one half remaining in this Showcase, the Stars were not going to allow the Red Dragons to win this match. With Amanda inspiring the team by not only getting back on the field but making several runs while she was in, the Stars battled through physical play by the Red Dragons to set up the tying score. Daniella would send a great cross that Erica would knock in to tie the score with about 20 minutes left. The Stars were taking a physical beating but would not back down. Shannon played her best match all season as she completely shut down any Red Dragon that tried to bring the ball down her end of the field. All that were present could sense that the match would finally turn the Stars way. Then with about 5 minutes remaining, Madison, who was already hobbling after rolling her ankle earlier in the half, would find an opening on the left side of the East Islip defense, taking the ball deep into the East Islip end of the field. She would cut back to her right and take a shot that would sail past the keeper and would be headed in by Erica, who looked like she was flying through the air. This would give the Stars a 2-1 lead, a lead they would not relinquish despite the physical play by the Red Dragons. Courtney was knocked down hard in the box with no call and Madison was taken out so hard she could not bend over without pain. Kara made some terrific plays in the end to protect the lead and the Stars would hold on to defeat the defending State Champions for the second consecutive time. The Red Dragons would have one more match to play against Albertson to decide the final standings in the division. Albertson would win that match 4-2, which meant that the Stars would finish in 2nd place. It would be an almost improbable finish for the Stars considering how they began this Showcase. But one could say that the Stars did some soul searching between Saturday and Sunday as they battled all day Sunday to come away winners in both of those matches and would finish higher than any other Long Island team in this bracket. Hopefully this experience would show this team that they need to be consistent and committed to excellence each and every time they are on the field. As Henry Ford is quoted as saying, “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”.
Stars Players selected to State ODP Team
The Stars will be well represented on both the 1996 and 1995 State ODP team as the following players were selected this year: Nicole, Shelby, Sydney and Kara on the 1996 team and Erica on the 1995 team. Please extend a congratulations to these players as we are sure they will all make us proud.
....NEVER LET A WIN GET TO YOUR HEAD, OR A LOSS TO YOUR HEART....BY Erica Modena
In loving memory of our Coach, Mentor and Friend. You will be in our hearts forever.
Angelo Modena
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