Saturday, September 17th

The FIT Tigers traveled to Rondout Valley High School in Accord, NY to take on the Ulster CC Senators.  The Tigers came out strong and ready to play hard with excellent communication and ball movement. The team kept up the intensity even with multiple injuries throughout the game. Captain Grace Cooper was tragically injured in the first half pretty early on, which resulted in her being unable to play for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, Cooper will be out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL.  With the sudden loss of their sophomore captain,  the Tigers worked together to readjust with players in some new positions and used solid teamwork led by fellow captains Emma Rathburn in midfield and goalkeeper Brooke Singer to keep the intensity up and the spirits high.  Despite battling through several other injuries, the Tigers fed off of their  strong chemistry built up this year on and off the field to hold Ulster scoreless as long as possible.  With an unlucky penalty in the Tiger's box, Ulster was gifted a penalty kick resulting in the first goal of the game leaving the score 1-0 at the half.  

Amazing leadership was shown from each and every player during half time and an inspiring speech by striker Viva Frenk pushed the team to get back on that field and give it their all. Again the Tigers went out there playing hard showing excellent teamwork and sportsmanship. With the clock running out, the Tigers left everything they had on the field. With minutes left, referees called a penalty on Ulster in their half giving the Tigers a free kick. Winger Michelle Muratore took the kick about 20 yards out from the goal. The ball floated through the air straight into the back of the net and an explosion of energy came from on and off the field. The clock ran out minutes later with a 1-1 draw so the Tigers and Ulster went to overtime which is a two, 10-minute half sudden victory (golden goal) format.  The next 20 minutes resulted in no goals from either team keeping the final score at a 1-1 tie, earning an embattled Tiger team a 1-1 draw.

The coaches could not be prouder of the effort put forth by the team throughout  this challenging match.  With multiple injuries to contend with, Tigers will focus on recovery this upcoming week in preparation for their first Region 15 match to take place at Suffolk Community College on Saturday, September 24th.

GO TIGERS!!