Staten Island, New York, June 30, 2007
The New York Sharks (6-2) had already clinched their sixth straight division title but there was still a lot on the line for their last regular season game against the Delaware Griffins (1-5). New York earned a playoff berth but were behind in getting home field advantage in the first round. They were tied with both the Montreal Bllitz and the Manchester Freedom with the same won-loss record of 5-2, but due to IWFL tie-breakers the Sharks were on the short-end of the stick. For them to get home field advantage they would have to shut-out the Griffins and hope for help from the opponents of the Blitz and Freedom.
It was a beautiful day in Staten Island as the Sharks were hosting the Griffins at Monsignor Farrell High School. The skies were clear and game time temperatures were in the low-70’s.
Delaware started the game by winning the coin toss, but they were quickly overmatched by New York. The Griffins only showed up with 15 players and while they played their hearts out, they were no match for the fully stocked Shark squad.
The Sharks defense stopped Delaware’s opening drive and forced the Griffins to punt. Starting from their own 49-yard line, it took New York only six running plays to get on the scoreboard. Mandy Oppel was the main workhorse on the drive, touching the ball four times and gaining 23-yards and scoring the touchdown. Emily Pelletier came in for the extra point and was successful. New York took the lead with 8:23 left in the first quarter and never looked back.
On their next possession, the Griffins were a little bit more successful and put together an 11-play drive. Starting from their own 34-yard line, running backs Pamela Downey and Lauren Gaeta helped Delware get to the New York 33-yard line. But the drive stalled when Jeannie McMullen threw a pass intended for wide receiver Melissa McVaugh. McVaugh was covered pretty well and the ball bounced off multiple hands, a total of 6, before it rested in the hands of Adrienne Smith.
Unfortunately the Sharks couldn’t do much with the turnover except turn it back over to Delaware as Karen Mulligan was intercepted by Downey. New York did get the ball back 4 plays later when Smith got her second interception of the game.
On this drive the Sharks started from their own 17-yard line and using a different ball carrier each time scored their second touchdown of the game. The big play was a quarterback option play in which Mulligan ran down the right side of the field and after gaining 6 yards, she pitched the ball back to Teresa Schirrippa who ran the final 49 yards for the score. The snap for the extra point was bad and that made the score 13-0 in favor of the Sharks with 6:39 left in the first half.
The Sharks got back on the board again in the second quarter after McMullen was intercepted for the third time by Toni Salvatore at the Griffins 38-yard line. On the very next play, Mulligan dropped straight back and hit a wide open Jen Blum for the score. The Sharks went for the 2-point conversion and Oppel punched it in to make the score 21-0 at the two minute warning.
In the second half the Sharks got on the board one more time after the kick-off. Starting from their own 35-yard line, New York had rushed the ball to the Delaware 43-yard line. Mulligan then threw a bomb to Anabel Rodriguez who scored the first touchdown of her career. The extra point attempt was low, but the Sharks had a commanding 27-0 lead.
With the outcome of the game not in doubt, the Sharks had some fun and inserted defensive end Amber Knighten in as a running back and she picked up 10 yards to give New York a first down on the Delaware 20-yard line. After a few more running plays, the Sharks had a first down on the Griffins 8-yard line. But instead of going for their fourth touchdown, the Sharks attempted a field goal. In the Sharks illustrious 9-year history, they have never, ever made a field goal. Meghann Antonucci came running out on to the field to attempt a 25-yard attempt. The snap was good, the hold was good, but the kick was wide left, and the Sharks still have not successfully kicked a field goal.
As the game wound down, the best play of the game was made by the Sharks defense. The Griffins went with a bigger running back, using lineswoman Stacey Ellam in the backfield. Ellam is 6 feet tall and weighs 315 pounds. Once she got going with the ball she could power her way for additional yards. On Ellam’s third carry, defensive back Pelletier came from the left side of the line and single-handedly made a shoe-string tackle. What made it extremely remarkable is that Pelletier is only 5’ 3” tall and weight 1/3 of Ellam. After her tackle, the Sharks sideline erupted with applause.
When the game was over, the Sharks did what they had to do. They had shut out the Griffins and did not suffer any injuries. Now they had to wait for the afternoon game results to see who they would face in the playoffs and where. While there were many combinations in which the Sharks would get home field advantage, none of them occurred. The Manchester Freedom defeated the New England Intensity by the score of 41-12. That clinched the Freedom their first playoff berth and the winner of the Northeast division over the Montreal Blitz. The Sharks and Freedom have the same won-loss record, but because the Freedom defense gave up 89 points to the Sharks 99 points, that gave Manchester the home field advantage on July 14th.
New York has never lost to New Hampshire nor even given up a point over the last 6 seasons to them, but in the playoffs everything gets thrown out the window. Kick-off time is 7:00pm (EDT).
If you can’t make it up to the Granite State, you can still follow all of the hard hitting playoff football as Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell will describe all of the action live to you on the official flagship station for New York Sharks Football, WFNradio.com – the Women’s Football Network. The broadcast will start at 6:45pm.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware Griffins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New York Sharks | 7 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 27 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NY – (08:23) Oppel 2 yard run (Pelletier kick)
Second Quarter
NY – (06:39) Schirrippa 55 yard run (pass failed)
NY – (02:00) Blum 38 yard pass from Mulligan (Oppel run)
Third Quarter
NY – (07:49) Rodriguez 43 yard pass from Mulligan (kick failed)