Daily Sports Digest: Oct. 18

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Kennedy

Boys Soccer: Kennedy has had some bright spots this season, one of which was a great comeback at Long Beach in the last 10 minutes to win 2-1 on Sept. 23. The two teams met again on Tuesday with the Cougars topping the Marines by a 2-0 final. Chad Fuschillo, who scored the game-winner in the first meeting, put in the two goals on the day. Zach Haefling made eight saves in the shutout to help Kennedy move to 4-8-0 in Conference III.

Boys Volleyball: Kennedy defeated Lawrence for the second time this season, the most recent time coming on Tuesday in a four-set victory. Senior Ben Canarick led the way on offense with 13 big kills, as well as on the defensive side with seven blocks -- both game-highs. Matt Murphy was right behind with 12 kills. Kennedy is now 6-3 on the season in Conference IV and looks to hit its stride with just three games left in an attempt at a fourth consecutive county title in November.

Mepham

Boys Soccer: Mepham ran into a “trap game” against last place Westbury at home, and the Pirates waited until six minutes remaining to go ahead, 2-1, for the win. Captain Dante Ippolito scored the game-winner in the 74th minute, with the first goal coming early in the first half from Harrison Dorcilien. Matt Waldman made five saves in his first varsity state in place of injured goalkeeper Steve Fotinos. The victory keeps Mepham in second place in Conference III at 7-5-0 with two games remaining.

Boys Volleyball: Mepham was swept on the road at Great Neck North to fall to 1-9 on the season in Conference V. The Pirates gave a strong effort and nearly pulled through in the second set, but eventually fell, 28-26, while dropping the first and third sets by scores of 25-14 and 25-16, respectively.

Clarke

Boys Soccer: Clarke has been playing very well in the second half of the season, winning three games in a row in early October. However, the Rams have now dropped two in a row after a 3-0 loss at Mineola on Tuesday. Matthew Schwartz made six saves in the effort, but the defense struggled to stop Paul Sandoval, who had all three scores. Clarke is now 4-7-0 on the season.

Girls Soccer: Clarke cruised to an easy win at home against Floral Park, putting in four goals to move to 9-0-3 and remain undefeated. Dina Simonian scored twice to increase her season total to four. Sam Goodwin scored a goal and added two assists as well, and Abby Trotter scored the fourth and final goal in the shutout win.

Girls Volleyball: Clarke has been up and down in the later parts of the season. On Tuesday, the Lady Rams fell to first place and undefeated Seaford in four sets to move to 5-7 on the season in Conference BC-I. Julia Cast and Tiffany Winans led the way in a strong effort. Clarke has three home games in a row before they conclude with East Meadow on the road on Oct. 29.

East Meadow

Boys Soccer: East Meadow could not be stopped in the first half at Baldwin, as the team scored three goals en route to a 4-2 victory on Tuesday. Alex Melnyczuk led the Jets with two goals -- his second multi-goal game of the season. The Jets also got goals from Kaisy Almendarez and John Posillico. East Meadow is currently in fifth place in Conference II at 4-6-2 and will contend with Port Washington and Calhoun for the final playoff spots with three games left to play.

Girls Volleyball: East Meadow fell to Baldwin on the road on Tuesday in four sets. The Lady Jets won the first set, 25-21, but dropped the next three to the Lady Bruins by a combined 75-53 score count. Despite the loss, Becky Syers, Taylor Conti and Jennifer Gundrum displayed solid efforts all-around. East Meadow, which is now 6-5, had won its previous two games, both taking place last week.

Field Hockey: East Meadow lost to Massapequa -- one of the top teams in the county -- on Tuesday by a 4-0 final. After defeating Oyster Bay on Oct. 11, the Lady Jets have now lost two games in a row to fall to 3-6-1 overall on the season. The girls will play at home against Seaford on Thursday.

Hewlett

Boys Soccer: Hewlett tied Five Towns' rival Lawrence Tuesday afternoon, 0-0. This is just the second game of the season in which the Bulldogs did not score a goal, but luckily for them, it did not result in a loss. Josh Alovis stopped nine shots in the shutout as Hewlett moves on to a 7-2-2 overall record, second place in Conference V.

Girls Soccer: Hewlett dropped a tough road game to Valley Stream North by a slim 1-0 final. Despite an exceptional game from goalkeeper Sarah Herzberg with 11 saves, one unlucky bounce in the first half eventually cost the Lady Bulldogs the game. The home side put in a rebound shot in the 15th minute to down Hewlett, which falls to 3-4-4 on the season. 

Lawrence 

Boys Soccer: Lawrence had a few solid chances in a home match against nearby Hewlett, but neither team scored in the Tuesday meeting. In hindsight, the result could represent a winning effort for the Golden Tornadoes, as they lost by a 2-1 score in the first meeting against the Bulldogs. Lawrence is 4-6-2 overall and is currently contending for the fourth playoff spot out of Conference V with just two games remaining.

Boys Volleyball: Lawrence hosted a young but tough Kennedy team on Tuesday, falling in four sets to the defending county champions. C.J. Borfitz and the Golden Tornadoes have struggled this season, but nonetheless, have shown great effort under head coach George Klein. Lawrence is now 1-8 in Conference IV this season.

Boys Volleyball: Garden City lost a road match to Bethpage on Tuesday in four sets. Andrew Graham, Tom Zwicke and company gave a strong effort, as the team falls to 1-9 in Conference V this season.

Middle School: The Salk 8th grade football team tied Wantagh on Monday, 14-14, to move to a 1-0-1 record this season. The Seahawks played stout defense, holding Wantagh scoreless for the first three quarters. The unit was led by Mike Rothberg, Danny O'Shea, Vin Thron, Danny Joyce, Matt Ryan, Jared Wolfe and Phil Razza. Matt Roberts make a key block on a kick late in the game to keep Salk in it. Quarterback Jimmy Kelleher threw for 87 yards and a touchdown to Nick Pernice, who added a rushing touchdown as well on 93 total yards in the effort. The team will play their next game on Friday at Bethpage.

Division

Boys Volleyball: Levittown District dominated Freeport at home on Tuesday, winning in straight sets, all the while giving up just 33 points in the three games. Chris Pappas had one of the best serving games of the season, accounting for 20 aces. Frank Ziegler led the offense at the net with 15 kills. The team is now 5-4 in Conference III this season.

Island Trees           

Girls Volleyball: Island Trees fell to Oyster Bay on the road Tuesday in four sets. Tied at 1-1 in the set count, the Lady Dawgs could not grasp any sort of momentum, as they lost the final two sets, 25-17 and 25-15. Shamar Sanchez and Kelly Durkin led the way for the team, which won its previous four matches. Island Trees is now 8-3 and is tied with Oyster Bay for third place in Conference BC-II.

MacArthur

Girls Volleyball: MacArthur swept aside visiting Uniondale on Tuesday for its seventh sweep of the season. The Lady Generals have been one of the top teams in the county thus far at 9-0 in Conference AA-II. Tuesday’s game was critical because it gave the team a two-game lead over Uniondale, which is in second place at 7-2. Lauryn Stillman led the way on offense with 24 assists, many to Samantha Barrett and Kristen Brown.

Boys Soccer: Long Beach suffered its toughest loss of the season the first time it met Kennedy at home. On Tuesday, Dylan Palacio and the Marines could not fend of Chad Fuschillo as they fell 2-0. Long Beach is 3-7-2 in Conference III and still has an outside shot at the fourth playoff spot with two games remaining in the regular season. 

Girls Soccer: Lynbrook played in a road game at Mineola on Tuesday and prevailed with a dominating 4-1 win. Four Lady Owls found the back of the net on the day, including Chani Sebazco, Megan Montine, Danielle Amaya and Rose Paskoff. Patricia Loonie, one of the team's top players this season, assisted on two of the goals. Michelle Cantanno helped with eight saves for Lynbrook, which is undefeated in its last five games (3-0-2) and 4-2-3 overall this season. 

Boys Soccer: Malverne/East Rockaway gave a valiant effort at home on Tuesday, but Floral Park pulled away in the second half to win 4-1. Pat McCarty scored the only goal for his team as the Knights put 11 total shots on goal. The team is still in search of its first win this season in Conference VI.

Girls Volleyball: Malverne topped Valley Stream North on the road in a dramatic five-set victory. The girls fell behind 2-1 in the set count, but did not give up for a second. Malverne won the last two sets by scores of 25-17 and 25-18, led by Amanda Masson with nine kills and Sara Robinson with eight kills and 14 assists. The team is now 9-2 and in second place in Conference BC-II after winning its last five matches.

Boys Volleyball: Calhoun matched up against its toughest task of the season, that of defending county champion Massapequa. The Colts lost in straight sets to fall to 1-8 on the season in a challenging Conference I pool.

Boys Soccer: Mineola defeated Clarke for the second time this season after collecting a 3-0 victory on Tuesday. Paul Sandoval was the hero on the day with three goals, two of which were assisted by Christian Lird. Sandoval now has eight goals on the season for the Mustangs. Mineola stands at 9-2-1 in Conference VII after its eighth shutout of the season.

Girls Soccer: Mineola attempted to snap a losing skid on Tuesday, but the girls ran into a surging Lynbrook team at home, losing by a 4-1 final. Lynbrook went up early in the first half and did not let up. Christina Palmenteri scored the only Mustang goal in the second half, as the team drops to 2-8-3 on the season.

Girls Volleyball: Mineola swept visiting Floral Park on Tuesday, but it did not come easy for the Lady Mustangs. The team only outscored their oppositions 75-64 as each game was decided by four points or less. Floral Park defeated Mineola the first time around in straight sets, so Tuesday's win was a big statement of how this team has improved during the season. The girls are now 9-2 in Conference BC-I.

Boys Soccer: South Side sneaked by New Hyde Park on the road on Tuesday by a 2-1 final score. Kyle Morrisey put a goal past goalkeeper Keith Heesemann in the 64th minute to give the Cyclones the one-goal lead. Dane Flaherty scored earlier in the half for his team. South Side had surged into first place in Conference IV, going undefeated in its last four games (3-0-1) and improving to 6-3-1 overall.

Girls Tennis: South Side defeated visiting MacArthur on Tuesday by a 5-2 final score. The doubles team of Erin Gabriel and Stephanie Ziegler won their match to finish undefeated at 14-0 this season. The Lady Cyclones are now 6-8 and in fourth place in Conference B-II.

Girls Volleyball: Seaford remained undefeated on the season at 11-0 with a four-set victory at Clarke on Tuesday. It was just the fourth time the Lady Vikings had lost a single set all season. The team was led Megan Russell with nine big kills, as well as teammate Megan Sullivan making a statement in the serving game with seven aces.

Girls Volleyball: The Lady Warriors (10-0) will attempt to remain undefeated as they host Garden City (5-7) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Wantagh swept in the first meeting of the season back on Sept. 22.

Boys Volleyball: West Hempstead was swept by Floral Park, a county finalist from 2010, on the road on Tuesday. Juan Romero and Eric Finkelstein led a solid effort for the Rams, but the loss drops the team to 4-5 in Conference IV.