When the Commack Blasters accepted their invitation to play in the Inaugural 2006 East Meadow Covanta Cup Division, the coaches knew that we would be facing top flight teams giving away at least one age group. Specifically, our schedule included three opening round games against GU/17 Premier teams from throughout the area. Our opening match was against the 2004 and 2005 State Cup Champion East Meadow Shooting Stars.

Action was intense from the opening minutes as Sara made some very aggressive saves while the defensive unit for this match of Ashley, Meghan, Brooke, and Campy were solid in frustrating the speedy front attack from the Shooting Stars. Carly had a good chance in the first half that was placed over the net while Katie and Saulty each got a quality shot off against the East Meadow keeper while Tori moved several balls into the deep offensive end. Midfielders LB, Jen, Gina, Liz, Nicky, and Meredith were solid and stood the test against the taller Shooting Stars.

As the second half started, the Blasters actually controlled the tempo for the opening ten minutes while East Meadow was trying to play balls over the top to their speedy forwards. Twice the defense was split but on both occasions Sara came up big to preserve the scoreless tie.

Overall, this was a solid effort against the more experienced Shooting Stars and a quality tie for Commack.

Date: August 26, 2006     Venue: Mitchel Field - Uniondale