Brooklyn, New York, May 13, 2006
It was a beautiful day in May as the New York Sharks (3-0) took on the Manchester Freedom (2-1). Both teams started the day undefeated but at the end of the day only one of them stayed that way. The young Sharks had rolled over their earlier opponents as they helped stretch the record winning streak of 41 regular season wins and today they would be facing a team that has never scored on them, let alone win against them. But this was a different Manchester team from old as they had a new coaching staff and some new blood. Of course they had some “old blood” in the form of Katia Pashkevitch their star player. The combination has worked well for the Freedom this year as they are off to an 2-0 start, their best ever in franchise history. And this would be the first time the Sharks had faced a team with a winning record this year.
One streak quickly ended for the Sharks as they lost the coin toss for the first time all season. But considering that Sharks’ head coach Vance usually elected to kick-off at the beginning of the game, nothing really changed for the New Yorkers.
Things started off roughly very quickly for the Sharks. On the kick-off the Freedom were able to bring the ball up to the Manchester 45-yard line. But at the end of the play there were a few exchanges made and New York was hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty. This gave the Freedom the ball on the Sharks’ 45-yard line. Very good field position on a very dumb play.
The Sharks defense was able to hold the Freedom and forced them to punt, but with a good kick New York was starting their first series of downs from their own 15-yard line. Mixing running plays and passing plays, the Sharks marched down the field to the Manchester 40-yard line. But under pressure quarterback Karen Mulligan tried to throw the ball off her back foot and the ball fluttered in the air where it was picked off by Pashkevitch. The Freedom linebacker raced down the right side of the field before being stopped at the New York 37-yard line. This was the first turnover of the season by the Sharks.
Again Manchester was starting a series in good field position. The Freedom were able to move the ball down to the 25-yard line before the Sharks defense stonewalled Manchester. On fourth down, Manchester went for it using the shotgun formation. The snap went sailing high over quarterback Lauri Izzi who was able to run down the ball and complete a pass to Laurie Letchar but they could only get the ball down to the 39-yard line of New York.
With the Sharks getting a break they tried to cash in, but it started off poorly as they got hit with an off-sides penalty. Next was a pitchout to halfback Kathy Holloman who was stopped 3 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Sharks were going backwards but Mulligan hit receiver Janice Danielle with a quick pass to the left sideline. Danielle fought her way down the line dragging tacklers to the Sharks 47-yard line and a New York first down.
This seemed to spark the team as the second quarter began. On the next play fullback Vivian Alberty ran up the middle for a 14 yard gain down to the Manchester 39-yard line. The spark quickly faded as the Freedom defense stopped New York on 3 straight running plays. So with a fourth down and 10 yards to go, coach Vance rolled the dice and went for it. Manchester sent in their linebackers and blitzed but the dice didn’t show up snake eyes for New York as Mulligan connected with receiver Junko Tanida on the Freedom 16-yard line. It was a spectacular over the shoulder catch giving the Sharks another first down deep in Manchester territory.
The Sharks then kept the ball on the ground pounding out yards until they got to the 1-yard line. Once the Freedom were able to stop Alberty from scoring but not the second time as she blew right through into the endzone for the first score of the game. The snap on the extra point was bobbled and delayed the kick enough for Manchester to block it. Still the Sharks had taken the lead, 6-0 with 7:37 left in the first half.
Momentum was swinging to the New York side as Amber Knighten made a booming kick that sailed over the kick returner’s head. By the time Manchester picked up the ball, a bevy of Sharks stopped the Freedom return for no yards and placing them at their own 23-yard line. The Freedom tried to get something going and went to the shot gun, but it was not a good move as the snap was a little bit high. It caused enough of a delay for Knighten to smash through the offensive line and sack Izzy for a big loss. On third down Manchester called for a screen play, but strong safety Mandy Oppel sniffed out the play and was waiting to put the hit on receiver Petchar. This resulted in another loss of yards and moved the Freedom back to their own 11-yard line. Having to punt from deep in their own territory and the pressure supplied by Knighten and Blessing Withers proved to be a recipe for disaster for Manchester. Another high snap bounced off the punter’s hands and Knighten was there to pounce on the ball in the endzone for another Sharks’ touchdown. The game was quickly starting to slip away from the Freedom.
On the next series it was another Knightmare for the Freedom. Knighten hammered another kick-off with the Freedom only able to return the ball to their own 20-yard line. On first down, Manchester pitched the ball to their running back, but Knighten was back there as if by magic and tackled the Freedom ball carrier for a 7 yard loss. It then unraveled as the Freedom fumbled the ball and the Sharks recovered. After another off-sides penalty on New York, the Sharks had the ball on the Manchester 16-yard line and a second down. Mulligan then handed the ball off to Holloman and she ran through a gaping hole up the middle for the Sharks’ third touchdown in less then 7 minutes. Mulligan ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion and the Sharks led 20-0.
In the second half the Sharks received the kick-off but fumbled the ball away to the Freedom. Manchester again had good field position with the ball on the New York 37-yard line. But the third time would not be the charm for Manchester as the Sharks defense came up big again. The Freedom offensive line could not keep the Sharks out of the backfield and the Freedom started to move backwards until they were forced to punt.
The next series of downs became costly for the Sharks as they started to move the ball downfield. They were marching down the field when the ball was handed off to Holloman who ran up the middle dragging tacklers with her before one more was too many and her knee got slammed down to the ground. She was in obvious pain and had to be helped off the field. The medical results are not yet in but the initial prognosis does not look good and she may be out for most of the season. As for the series, New York was able to move the ball down as far as to the Manchester 19-yard line before the drive stalled.
Starting deep in their own territory, the Freedom began using Pashkevitch as their main weapon and it seemed to be working. A steady diet of the Russian hockey star had the Freedom moving the ball down all the way down to the New York 2-yard line. Manchester was in territory they have never ventured before with the New York Sharks. It was first down and they were on the threshold of scoring for the first time against the Sharks. And just as importantly with over 10 minutes left in the game, they could possibly pull off one of the biggest comebacks in women’s football as the Sharks could no longer contain Pashkevitch.
But all of that was putting the cart before the Shark and no matter where the ball is, New York does not give up points easily. After a Manchester time out the Freedom decided to change things up a bit and had quarterback Izzy roll out to her right looking for a receiver. Alberty who was inserted to play for the injured Michelle Brown came up big and chased the quarterback down for a loss of 10-yards. That definitely put a spring in the steps of the New York defense and on the next play they stopped Pashkevitch cold at the line of scrimmage on a pitchout play. On third down the Freedom tried a little razzle dazzle as they pitched the ball to Pashkevitch who then stopped to throw the ball, but a New York defender was immediately upon her. She got the pass off but it was almost intercepted by the Sharks before the ball hit the ground. Now with fourth down, Manchester ran the quarterback option with Izzy rolling to her left. She got nowhere as Knighten came up to stop her cold at the New York 13-yard line. It was a big test for the young Sharks defense and they passed with flying colors.
New York then chewed up the clock as they methodically marched down the field again. They were able to get the ball down to the Freedom 29-yard line when again they turned the ball over. The first 2 games of the year they did not have a single turnover and in this game alone, they had already committed three of them. Still the drive took enough time off of the clock and the Freedom were dejected for not scoring after being so close that the game was essentially over.
It was a tough game for the Sharks as they played a vastly improved Manchester team, but the Sharks proved their mettle. Their defense came up big when they had to as Knighten showed everyone that she can be a dominating force in football. The victory now stretched the Sharks regular season winning streak to a record 42 games and it was New York’s third straight shutout. Knighten was awarded the defensive game ball and center Beth Nugent received the offensive game ball for her blocks that opened up holes for the running attack.
Not all was good with the day as the Sharks might have lost Holloman for a significant part of the season and they are continually plagued with penalties. They are a young and talented team, but they will have to stop shooting themselves in the foot if they are to remain near the top of the IWFL Eastern Conference.
The Sharks next game will be this Saturday as they travel to New England to take on division rival Southern Maine Rebels. Game time is 5:30pm (EDT). If you can’t join us in Portland, Maine you can still follow all of the action as Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell will describe all of the action on our flagship radio station WFN Radio – the Women’s Football Network.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester Freedom | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Sharks | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 20 |
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
NY – (07:37) Alberty 1 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (04:20) Knighten fumble recovery (pass failed)
NY – (00:52) Holloman 16 yard run (Mulligan run)