The Islip Buccaneers played spoiler to the Comsewogue Warriors annual Homecoming celebration as they knocked off the undefeated Warriors in a defensive struggle 17-3. The loss drops the Warriors record to 2-1 behind undefeated (3-0) Sayville.
Actually due to the impending inclement weather the Homecoming festivities were cancelled and moved to Saturday Oct. 22 but the regularly scheduled game went on as scheduled. Too bad, in hindsight the Warriors maybe should have rescheduled Saturday’s football game too.
As the score indicates the Warriors were held to no touchdowns – offensive or otherwise and limited to only a 28-yard field goal by Matt Cossidente in the first quarter that gave Comsewogue a brief 3-0 lead. Following an Eric Rosenthal 27-yard field goal Islip held the Warriors scoreless while they reeled off another 14 unanswered points in the second half.
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“It was a great game for two-and-a-half quarters,” said Comsewogue head coach Sean Tremblay. “The offense left the defense on the field way too long. It was a grind and a very physical game. We were worn down toward the end of the game.”
Knotted at 3-3 Islip scored on their first possession of the second half as Joe Sabbatino (11 carries for 85 yards) scored from the Warriors seven in the third quarter. Then in the fourth Johnny Maher (12 rushes for 5-yards) scored from the five giving the Bucs a 14-poing lead.
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So what can the Warriors take from the loss? “We need to play for four quarters,” Tremblay stated. “I was happy with how we competed in the first half, but e came out flat in the second. Ultimately that’s my fault. But I can’t say enough with how well the defense played.”
Attesting to Tremblay’s statement is the fact that the Warriors sacked Islip quarterback Joe Sabbatino (4-8 for 50-yards) five times. Mike Crissa led the defense with 10 tackles and two sacks. Carlos Antonio Nunez contributed eight tackles and two sacks and James Mitso added eight tackles and one sack.
The Warriors will try and regroup and post a win at winless (0-3) East Hampton.
“We are pretty banged up,” admitted Tremblay. “We need to get healthy mentally and physically.”
Meanwhile, the field hockey team split the week’s games, losing to Shoreham-Wading River 2-0 on Monday and then knocking off area rival Port Jefferson 3-0 on Friday. The win over the Royals was the second shutout of the year for goalie Katie Moran (four saves). The Warriors’ offense kicked in with three goals from three different players against Port Jefferson – Karie Znaniecki, Mary Kate McCormick and the surprising junior Erin Dougherty playing only her second year of organized field hockey.
“I thought that we played our best game against Shoreham-Wading River,” said head coach Nicole Kidd. “They are a very good team and we had our opportunities against them but their goalie did a god job. Their second goal they scored was off a penalty stroke so I was pretty happy with how we played.
“Against Port Jefferson we had a very strong first half,” Kidd continued. “Our passing was nice and when we are zoned in like that it’s pretty difficult to defend us. But we play in a very tough division – the top six or seven teams are always strong and everybody is tough. We’re just going to have to take it one game at a time.”
This week the Lady Warriors take on neighboring Miler Place and Riverhead.
The girl’s soccer team finally bounced back from their slow start with a pair of 2-0 wins over Harborfields and Eastport-South Manor. Following three games in which they failed to score a single goal, the Lady Warriors waited until the second half of the Harborfields game before Brittani Wersan beat keeper Morgan Krush with Comsewogue’s first goal of the season. That was followed by Taylor Fischer’s goal later in the half.
Against Eastport-South Manor Kendall Frank got things going with a first half tally and Michaela Friedman scored in the second half. Again it was the consistent goalkeeping by Kim Comstock which overshadowed the offense. Comstock notched 17 saves against the Sharks and four against the Tornadoes.
The boy’s soccer team also got off to a slow start losing two in a row to Deer Park (2-1) and Hills West (3-0) before rebounding and beating Huntington 1-0 last Saturday. The week’s play gives the Warriors an overall 2-2 record heading into this week’s schedule.
The girl’s volleyball team continued to fall on hard times losing to Eastport-South Manor and Bellport by identical 3-0 scores. In fact in all three of their matches this year the Lady Warriors have yet to win a single game. Their record thus far is a dismal 0-3.
