East Providence, Rhode Island, May 14, 2005
The New York Sharks (5-0) sporting new road uniforms travelled up I-95 for the 4th and hopefully not the last time this season to take on the Rhode Island Intensity (0-5). Rhode Island played very competively last season but are struggling this year as they have been hit with a rash of injuries. The Intensity were looking for their first win of the year and the Sharks were not willing to be their first victim.
The forecast for the day was rain in the Ocean State and the skies were cloudy as the game began. But as the game progressed the sun began to shine on the field and on the Sharks.
Quarterback Val Halesworth started the game off by winning the coin toss and elected to have New York receive the kick. A nice return by Courtney Eaton and Halesworth went to work at the Sharks 49-yard line. Running back Mandy Oppel in her first start of the season behind Halesworth made her presence felt quickly as she around the end on the right side for 20 yards. Oppel refused to be taken down and added an additional 5 yards with a defender literally on her back. Halesworth ran for 12 yards and picked up another 16 yards on a pass to Jen Blum.
New York was now down to the 1 yard line and Halesworth kept the ball to score on a quarterback keeper. The Sharks had struck quickly to take a 6-0 lead with only 5:32 into the game. The extra point attempt went wide.
The Sharks struck again as captain Toni Salvatore picked off a Chrystal Alcock pass. That gave New York back the ball at midfield. After an incomplete pass and a 8-yard loss on a running play, New York was looking at a third down and 18-yard situation. Halesworth calmly dropped back and found Blum streaking down the right side of the field. The pass hit Blum in stride and she ran into the endzone for a 58-yard touchdown play. The Sharks missed the extra point again, but the lead was now doubled to 12-0 with 6:46 left in the first quarter.
But before you could start thinking rout, Rhode Island struck back and quickly. After the kick-off, the Intensity had the ball on their own 36-yard line. Alcock handed the ball off to running back Lauren Manfred and when the Sharks defense over pursued to the left, she took off to the right and ran 64 yards for a touchdown. The kick for the extra point was wide but the score was now 12-6 in favor of New York with 5:12 left in the quarter.
The flurry of scoring in the first quarter did not end, as the Sharks got the 6 points back and more on the next drive. Starting from their own 40-yard line, Halesworth went to the air. She hit receiver Junko Tanida for a 35 yard pass and then connected with Courtney Eaton who danced down the side line before going out of bounds on the 6-yard line. Intensity safety Amy Manfred went for the ball instead of the receiver and was not as fortunate as her sister, Lauren and got burned. Oppel then put on the finishing touch for the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run. It was her first touchdown of her career and the Sharks got 6 points back. New York then added 2 more points when the snap for the extra point was low, but holder Halesworth passed to Liz Presto for the conversion. The Sharks now led Rhode Island 20-6 with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
The Sharks scored their last touchdown of the half when Blum caught her third pass of the day for a 20-yard touchdown. She finished the day with 94 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns scored. The touchdown came with 1:29 left in the half and made the score 26-6 at halftime.
In the third quarter, New York continued to put pressure on the Intensity. The Sharks scored two more touchdowns on a 5 yard pass to Presto and on a 39-yard rumble by Oppel for her second score of the day. Kicker Megan Antonucci found the range and kicked the extra points for both touchdowns to give the Sharks the 40-6 lead.
Rhode Island, though beaten did not give up. They started a drive in the fourth quarter on their own 24-yard line, but were able to get to the Sharks 5-yard line. New York’s defense stiffened and was able to stop the 13 play drive to get the ball back. The big stop came on a fourth down and goal to go play. Antonucci was able to stop Alcock from turning the corner and getting in to the endzone. Unfortunately the tackle injured Antonucci’s leg badly enough to end her day. But the touchdown saving tackle was big, as one of the IWFL tie breakers is points given up. With the Atlanta Xplosion shutting out the Wildcats 43-0, the Sharks are now the #2 seed in the eastern conference playoffs. The Xplosion have given up 22 points this year, while New York has given up 24 points.
At the end of the game, coach Lynn Lewis gave out game balls to Blum for her 2 touchdown catches and to Antonucci for her touchdown saving tackle.
The Sharks get a nice home stay for the rest of the regular season with 5 straight games in Staten Island. Next week they host the Bay State Warriors at Monsignor Farrell High School. The game will be played on Saturday, May 21st. kick-off time is 7pm. If you cannot make it up to the game, you can still follow all of the Sharks football action by listening to the game on www.kedu.us.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Sharks | 20 | 6 | 14 | 0 | 40 |
| Rhode Island Intensity | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (10:28) Halesworth 1 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (06:46) Blum 56 yard pass from Halesworth (kick failed)
RI – (05:12) L. Manfred 64 yard run (kick failed)
NY – (02:34) Oppel 6 yard run (Presto pass from Halesworth)
Second Quarter
NY – (01:29) Blum 20 yard pass from Halesworth (kick failed)
Third Quarter
NY – (11:44) Presto 5 yard pass from Halesworth (Antonucci kick)
NY – (05:06) Oppel 39 yard run (Antonucci kick)