Jamaica, New York, May 31, 2003
The New York Sharks (6-0) continued a few streaks at home this season. With their 41-0 victory over the visiting Albany Night-Mares (1-4), New York has won all 4 home games. Each home game has been by a shutout. Each home game, running back Missy Marmorale has scored. Each home game it has rained.
During the game the rain was often heavy at times, but it did little to slow down the Sharks scoring machine nor dampen the spirit of the crowd. Many Girl Scouts were in attendance for the Girl Scout’s Day Promotion and many other fans were in attendance for the selection of the winner of the P. C. Richard & Son Giant TV Raffle.
The game started off with the Night-Mares winning the coin toss. Todd Costello, a representative of P. C. Richard & Son performed the coin toss. By winning the toss, Albany chose to receive. Up until that point, the Sharks had won all their coin tosses at home this season.
Albany started the game on the ground but quickly got no where. After gaining only 1 yard in 3 rushes, the Night-Mares were forced to punt from their own 40 yard line. Val Halesworth returned the punt to Albany’s 43-yard line and she then went to work at quarterback. It didn’t take too long for the Sharks to get on the scoreboard. A hand-off to Virginia Leon for a 9 yard pickup, put the ball on Albany’s 34-yard line. Missy Marmorale then ran it in from there for a touchdown. The Sharks failed on the extra point try despite a nice save by Halesworth of a bouncing snap. She was able to get the ball down but kicker Valerie Monaco hit the upright. The score was 6-0 at the 10:10 mark in the first quarter.
After another stop by the Shark’s defense, Halesworth returned an Albany punt 34 yards to the Night-Mares’ 32-yard line. 4 plays later, New York scored again. The touchdown came on an 18-yard pass reception by Liz Presto. The extra point attempt was blocked by Albany, so the score was now 12-0 in favor of the Sharks.
The Night-Mares went 3 and out on their next possession. The Sharks scored again, this time in only 3 plays. The touchdown coming on a 34 yard end run play down the left sideline. Monaco put the ball through the uprights for the extra point and New York was ahead 19-0 with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.
Albany was able to gain a few moral victories in the second quarter. In the beginning of the quarter, the Night-Mares were able to gain a first down, their first and only one in the game. The jubilation did not last too long as they were forced to punt 3 plays later. The Sharks starting on their own 44-yard line, their worst field position for the game were looking to score their fourth touchdown. In only 2 plays, Halesworth was able to move the Sharks down to the Albany 18-yard line. It looked like another score when Albany’s defense came up big and intercepted a pass in the endzone. It was Halesworth’s first interception of the season and more importantly for Albany a defensive stop.
The Night-Mares were not able to capitalize on the turnover and quickly were forced to punt. The Sharks were able to get the ball back on Albany’s 36-yard line. This time, Halesworth was able to move her team in for their fourth touchdown. She ran the ball herself twice for a 3 and 12 yard gain. Then from the 21-yard line, Marmorale ran it in to make the score 25-0. Monaco caught a pass for the 2-point conversion and just before halftime, the Sharks had a commanding 27-0 lead.
During halftime, the winner of the P. C. Richard & Son Giant TV Raffle was selected. Todd Costello picked the winner, Deb and John Pellegrin of Demarest, New Jersey.
The Sharks received the ball to start the second half and scored their fifth touchdown after a 23 yard pass reception by Monaco, a 13 yard Halesworth run, a 10 yard Leon run, and then an 8 yard Presto catch in the endzone. New York completed the 2-point conversion on a pass play to Courtney Eaton.
Albany went 3 and out again and were forced to punt from their own 38-yard line. Punter Colleen Ferris booted a 34 yard kick to returner Presto. Presto ran to her right, put on the after burners and raced 72 yards for a touchdown. This was the longest punt return for a touchdown in Shark’s history. It was also the first kick return for a touchdown in Shark’s history. This made the score 41-0 in favor of the Sharks.
The game was soon called off as another Albany player suffered an injury and the team could not field enough players for the game to continue. The final score was the New York Sharks winning their 6th game of the season 41-0.
The Sharks have already clinched the Mid-Atlantic division title but are looking to get the first round bye in the IWFL Eastern Conference playoffs. New York is tied with the Bay State Warriors and Miami Fury with the best record in the division, but have a slight edge on tie-breaker rules.
The Sharks fly down to Florida next week for their biggest test of the season. They will play the Miami Fury on Saturday and then travel to Tampa Bay to take on the Terminators two days later on Monday night. If the Sharks can defeat Miami they will be guaranteed a playoff home game in the first round. If they can defeat Tampa Bay also, they will have clinched a first round bye and be the home team in the second round of the playoffs on June 28th. If the Sharks are the home team in the first or second round of the playoffs, the games will be held at August Martin High School in Queens, New York.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albany Night-Mares | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Sharks | 19 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 41 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (10:10) Marmorale 34 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (04:37) Presto 18 yard pass from Halesworth (kick failed)
NY – (00:45) Marmorale 45 yard run (Monaco kick)
Second Quarter
NY – (00:54) Marmorale 21 yard run (Monaco pass from Halesworth)
Third Quarter
NY – (08:25) Presto 8 yard pass from Halesworth (Eaton pass from Halesworth)
NY – (01:44) Presto 72 yard punt return (kick failed)