Sports Digest: Mustang Champions, 1-Football

Welcome to Patch's snapshot of sports in Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.

The following AYSO update comes from Michael Weitzen:

The Tarrytown Mustangs entered the Somers Fall Classic soccer tournament as underdogs, but left as champions. After finishing the fall season 5-1-1, the AYSO under age 10 girls were rewarded with a trip to Somers to play against the top competition in Westchester.

The girls drew a tough bracket, which included two club teams and league leader Pleasantville. The Wildcats had bested the Mustangs in their last 3 meetings including Tarrytown’s only loss of the season 5-1 in September. 
The girls opened against the Somers Lady Cougars home team who recently moved to the Westchester Youth Soccer League (WYSL) looking for tougher competition. They had all they could handle from the Mustangs as Julia Costa and Samantha Nutig took multiple shots on goal, but in the short tournament game format, Tarrytown did not manage to score. The first game ended in a 0-0 tie with both teams collecting one point.

The Mustangs knew they would have to do better to keep up with Pleasantville. 
The second game was against another WYSL club team the Harrison Power. The Mustangs put on an offensive show with Emma Clarke getting the team’s first goal of the tournament. Julia Costa then followed and then Samantha Nutig scored a third time with a left footed beauty. The defense earned their second shut out led by Maddy Navin, Annie Dineen, and Sadie Swenson. After winning 3-0, the girls earned three points for the Win, but because of their earlier tie, they knew they would have to win the rest of their games including their next game against Pleasantville. 
Pleasantville had already won their first 3 games, scoring 15 goals and allowing none. Tarrytown had the added pressure of having to win, as Pleasantville only needed a tie.

The girls played their best game of the year, constantly beating the Wildcats to the ball. Sadie Swenson and Annie Dineen fearlessly took on Pleasantville’s star players and usually came out on top. When the Wildcats got close Maddy Navin would be waiting to relieve them of the ball. Julia Costa played aggressive at keeper, often leaving the net and taking balls away from advancing Pleasantville forwards. She then sent multiple drop kicks deep into Wildcat territory letting the Mustang offense go to work. Samantha Livingston and Catherine Grimes alternated at wing keeping constant pressure on the Wildcat defense. At half time the score was tied 0-0. Coach John Sutherland played for the win and moved star keeper Julia Costa to offense. This placed pressure on Mustang keeper Sophie Sylves-Berry who followed Costa’s example with several dramatic saves and strong drop kicks of her own. In the opening minute of fourth quarter, coach Sutherland’s strategy paid off as Julia Costa penetrated the left side of the Pleasantville defense. Julia then sent a beautiful cross to Maya Weitzen, which just missed her right foot at the opposite post. Maya hustled to save the ball then quickly resumed the attack from the right side. When the Wildcat defense closed in on her and their keeper drew to her side, Maya cleverly crossed the ball back to Julia who made Pleasantville pay. The crowd erupted in cheers as spectators from other games convened to see the upset in the making. The last 5 minutes were intense as neither team let up. As the official tournament horn sounded Pleasantville realized that their 17 game winning streak had come to and end and that the Mustangs were in the drivers seat.

All that was left to win the Somers Fall Classic was to beat the Ardsley Spirit. Ardsley had yet to win a game but had a strong keeper and the pressure was clearly on Tarrytown. The Mustangs took several shots on goal in the first quarter but were unable to score. Ardsley rarely crossed midfield, but if Tarrytown could not score, their win against Pleasantville would be for naught. In the second quarter Maddy Navin took a corner kick that bounced out to forward playing defender Sadie Swenson. Sadie fired the ball into the net giving Tarrytown the lead. Soon the floodgates opened and Julia Costa crossed the ball to Samantha Nutig who scored her second goal of the tournament. Maya Weitzen finally got a goal of her own as the Mustangs downed Ardsley 3-0 and secured the tournament championship.

The girls then collected first place trophies at the award ceremony and posed for photos. The team followed the ceremony with a victory party featuring soccer shaped deserts for the players and enough adult beverages for the parents to even make local beer distributor/soccer dad Pat Grimes blush. The girls finish the fall season 8-1-2 with an impressive 9 shutouts on the year.

They now will start indoor winter workouts as they prepare for the spring season next April.

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And huge news in high school football...

From the TUSFD.org site:

Sleepy Hollow High School Awarded Inaugural Sportsmanship Award by Section I

Sleepy Hollow High School is proud to have received the first-ever Sportsmanship Award from Section One Athletics.  Sleepy was chosen from among all 29 schools in Class A.

While the award specifically recognizes the football team, it is truly a celebration of the entire community, including players, coaches, parents, fans and the community at large.  All of those associated with our football program demonstrated class, teamwork, ethical conduct and citizenship throughout the season.

Sleepy Hollow was named for its honorable play on the field and its chivalrous treatment of opposing players, coaches and referees.  In addition, Section One noted the willingness of the Horsemen to go out into the community and serve, including participating in a clean up day in Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, as well as visiting a local nursing home to spend time with the residents.

By consistently exemplifying the attributes of caring, fairness, integrity, and responsibility, Sleepy Hollow student-athletes, coaches, parents, and community members reminded everyone that success on the field is important, but dwarfed by success in life.

Congratulations Horsemen!

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