Queens, New York, July 12, 2003
The 2003 IWFL Championship Game featured two teams with undefeated records. The Sacramento Sirens had won the IWFL Westeren Conference with a devastating offense that averaged over 65 points per game. The New York Sharks had won the IWFL Eastern Conference with a brick wall defense that allowed only 1 touchdown all season. It was a perfect match-up for a championship game.
It was a beautiful evening for a football game. The temperature was in the low 80’s with little humidity in the air. The game was being played at DaSilva Field on the campus of St. John’s University.
Before the game started, international singer Rueben Flores sang the National Anthem and the coin toss was performed by former New York Jet player Ken Schroy. Schroy was not able to help the Sharks as Sacramento won the coin toss by calling tails.
New York started the game with a booming kick by Val “Peanut” Monaco which sailed over kick returner Michelle Kahler‘s head and bounced into the endzone. Excitement started to build as the number one offense faced off against the best defense.
The first series was won by the Sharks as they held Sacramento to only 3 yards in 3 downs and forced the Sirens to punt. After the punt, New York had the ball in very good field position at the 46-yard line of Sacramento.
With the ball in New York’s possession they quickly showed that they are no slouch on offense. After a Halesworth incomplete pass, the Sharks went to the ground and Halesworth ran 16 yards up the middle for a first down. The Sharks were only able to move the ball 3 more yards for a third down situation. Halesworth went to her right and pitched the ball to Virginia “Cha Chi” Leon. Leon used her speed to get to the outside and with a nice block by receiver Jen Blum on Siren defensive back Nikki Kopacz sprung Leon for a 27 yard touchdown run. Halesworth then connected with Blum for the 2-point conversion and with less than 5 minutes into the game, the Sharks had the lead 8-0.
The second time Sacramento got the ball, they methodically used their running game to move the ball up the field. Alternating runs by Julie Wicher, Kahler, and Leilani Lemary the Sirens were able to march 72 yards down the field on 11 plays to score their first touchdown of the game. The touchdown came on a 4-yard run by Lemary. Dana McIntyre punched the ball in for the 2-point conversion and with 3:46 to go in the first quarter, the game was tied at 8 a piece.
New York started off their next series on their own 38-yard line but continued to move the ball against Sacramento. On second down and with the ball on the Sirens’ 45-yard line, Halesworth pitched the ball left to Missy Marmorale. Marmorale turned the corner and was gone, running straight to the endzone. But it was for naught, as the play was called back on a New York penalty. It seemed like a big break for Sacramento, but the Sharks kept moving the ball forward. Just before the quarter ended, Halesworth hit receiver Liz Presto for 23 yards to give the Sharks a first down at the Sacramento 11-yard line.
As the second quarter started, New York had an excellent opportunity to get back on the board with the ball deep in Sacramento territory, but the Sirens’ defense stiffened. The Sharks went to the air, and came up empty each time, giving the ball back to the Sirens on downs.
Starting off deep in their own territory, the Sirens just kept to the running game and was methodically able to move the ball forward. Sacramento was not able to break off their patented long runs but were able to move the chains. But the Sharks were able to stall the Sirens at New York’s 33-yard line after 11 plays.
Sacramento’s defense this time, was able to stop the Sharks on 3 downs and forced them to punt. New York fans had to be a bit nervous as this was only the second time all season, that the Sharks had to punt and the first time in Philadelphia did not go well as the snap was short to the punter Nikki Gwinnett. This time the snap went to Gwinnett but the kick went off the side of her foot and the ball went out of bounds for only a 7-yard punt. With excellent field position at the New York 33-yard line, Sacramento did not pass up this opportunity. By going to the no-huddle offense and staying on the ground, the Sirens were able to get to the New York 12-yard line, where they then faked a hand-off and Limary tossed the ball to Hilary McLaughin in the endzone for the score. McLaughlin then kicked the extra point to give the Sirens their first lead of the game 14-8 with 6:10 left in the half.
The Sharks have only been behind once all season and so this was a strange position for them to be in. But New York came storming back after the kick-off. Going to the air, the Sharks were able to tie the game up by going 64 yards in 6 plays. The big play being a 44-yard touchdown pass from Halesworth to Blum. The Sharks then took the lead when Halesworth found her favorite receiver Monaco for the 2-point conversion. So with 3:59 left in the half, New York was leading Sacramento 16-15.
Having less than 4 minutes left did not seem to bother the Sirens as they quickly were able to march the ball from New York’s 46-yard line down to the 10-yard line. The Sirens were continuing to go with the no-huddle offense. Sacramento kept going to the option play where the quarterback would either hand the ball off to the first running back, or fake the hand off and give it to the second running back, or fake on both and keep it herself. With their fast runners, it made it very difficult to figure out who had the ball until it was too late.
The Sharks caught a big break in this drive when the Sirens were called for holding. This moved the ball back to the 15-yard line. Wicher was able to get the ball back to the 10-yard line, but a quarterback sack by Marmorale forced the Sirens to go for a field goal in the waning seconds of the half. The 31-yard field goal try was short and so the first half ended with the New York Sharks leading the Sacramento Sirens 16-15.
Things were looking good for New York. The Sirens were able to move the ball on the Sharks but New York was also able to move the ball. The Sharks had the lead going into the second half and were getting the ball. If the Sharks could continue to keep up with Sacramento, they had a chance to repeat as champions. Unfortunately for New York, things went down hill fast.
Sacramento made a few adjustments to start the second half and started blitzing more. The added pressure was able to stop the Sharks on the first drive of the second half. New York was forced to punt from their own 25-yard line after the Sirens had sacked Halesworth twice for a loss of 15 yards. This time Gwinnett was able to get a solid punt away. Wicher caught the punt at mid-field and then was able to run down the left side of the field for a touchdown. And just like that, Sacramento was back in front. The Sirens 2-point conversion attempt was stopped but the score was now 21-16 in favor of California.
The Sharks tried to stay with their attack in the air. It got mixed results as the Sirens continued to blitz and were able to get to the quarterback more and more frequently. Every so often New York would connect deep but not enough to score in the third quarter.
The Sirens got on the board again at the 5:18 mark of the third quarter after only 2 plays. Continuing with the no-huddle offense, Limari rolled out to her left and then handed the ball to Wicher who then ran 73 yards for a touchdown. Chantelle Powers ran the ball in for the 2-point conversion to give the Sirens a 29-16 lead.
New York tried to come roaring back by staying to the air. Halesworth was now rolling out of the pocket to give herself some more time to throw and she was able to connect with Monica Marsh for a 20-yard gain and then hit Blum for a 23-yard gain. Marsh caught an 8-yard pass to move the ball all the way down to the Sacramento 5-yard line, but the Sharks could not move the ball any further and were stopped at the door. That might have been the turning point of the game.
Deep in their own territory, the Sirens continued with their ground assault and it seemed that they were wearing down the New York defense. Starting from their own 5-yard line, Sacramento was able to score their fifth touchdown of the game in a 14-play drive. Three times the Sirens were able to move the chains on third down conversions. The touchdown came on a Limary 23-yard run. The 2-point conversion was stopped but the Sacramento had a big lead of 35-16 with only 8 minutes left in the game.
There was definitely a sense of urgency for the Sharks as they came out on their next drive. 7 times they went to throw the ball and 5 times it was caught. The Sharks moved the ball 59-yards in 13 plays in less than 4 minutes to score. The touchdown coming on a 3-yard pass to Monaco to make the score 35-22.
With less than 5 minutes left in the game, the Sharks were hoping for a miracle and went for the on-side kick. The Sirens were able to recover the ball on New York’s 49-yard line. It didn’t take Sacramento long to get the touchdown back as Limary ran for 54 yards on the second play of the drive to score. The extra point try went wide but the Sirens had their 19-point lead back with about 3 minutes left in the game.
New York would still not give up. Their dream of repeating as champions was ticking away but the Sharks would not believe it. After the kickoff, the Sharks had the ball on their own 37-yard line. Halesworth pitched out to Marmorale who was then greeted by Sacramento players at the 40-yard line. Not willing to stop for pleasantries, she refused to be tackled and fought her way out of the pile. She then proceeded to be a blur as she raced down the left side of the field for a 63-yard touchdown run. Monaco then caught a pass for the 2-point conversion, but it was too little too late. The score was now 41-30 but there was less than 3 minutes left to the game.
The Sharks tried one more last ditch effort with an on-side kick but Sacramento recovered the ball and then ran the clock out to end the game and the season for New York.
After the game, the league gave out an MVP award to players on each team. Limary received one for the Sirens, while Marmorale received one for the Sharks. It was a tough loss for New York after such a successful regular season, but Sacramento was the better team this night.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento Sirens | 8 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 41 |
| New York Sharks | 8 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 30 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (10:15) Leon 27 yard run (Blum pass from Halesworth)
SAC – (03:46) Limary 4 yard run (McIntyre run)
Second Quarter
SAC – (06:10) McLaughlin 12 yard pass from Limary (McLaughlin kick)
NY – (03:59) Blum 44 yard pass from Halesworth (Monaco pass from Halesworth)
Third Quarter
SAC – (11:33) Wicher 49 yard punt return (run failed)
SAC – (05:13) Wicher 74 yard run (Powers run)
Fourth Quarter
SAC – (08:02) Limary 23 yard run (run failed)
NY – (04:14) Monaco 3 yard pass from Halesworth (pass failed)
SAC – (03:13) Limary 54 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (02:43) Marmorale 63 yard run (Monaco pass from Halesworth)