West Islip's Second Half Surge Too Much For Sachem

Lorraine Hodgson and Loren Ziegler accounted for five of West Islip's seven unanswered goals to start the second half, as the Lions handed Sachem North their first League I loss of 2011 Tuesday afternoon at Fred Fusaro Alumni Stadium, 18-8.

Hodgson scored seven goals, while Ziegler added four of her as well as four assists.

"Rainey Hodgson and Loren Ziegler did a great job," said Lions (2-1, 3-1) head coach Joe Nicolosi. "Loren did a great job getting to ground balls and getting the ball down that side, both of them did a very nice job."

West Islip jumped out to an early lead before they seemed to switch their offensive style midway through the first half. Leading 5-1, Ziegler carried the ball deep into the Arrows (2-1, 2-2) end of the field, and stood in the corner for an extended period of time on two different occasions.

It forced Sachem to be more aggresive defensively, and that tenacity carried over on the other end of the field. Sachem notched three of the next four, a pair each by Kelly Kuerner and Nicole Dale, and trailed 7-5 at the break. Kuerner had five of Sachem's eight goals. Jessica Mazliah also scored for the Arrows.

"We stayed focused, and we started to play a little more like a team," said North head coach Ed Manly of his team's change of pace. "We were a little bit calmer on offense, and had our wits about us. We executed much better."

After halftime, however, the Arrows were unable to secure possession for an extended period of time, which led to the string of West Islip goals.

"We couldn’t win a draw," he said. "In a girls game, the team that wins the draw control is going to win the game. They were more hungry on draws. Their coach does a great job on draw control, they just seemed like they wanted it a little more."

Kelsey Allen and Erin Byrnes each had two goals for the Lions, while Riley Hill Cara Douglas and Erin Collins added one as well.