Somerville, Massachusetts, April 16, 2011
It was a dark and stormy night, and while the rain clouds didn't burst until after the game, the Boston Militia (1-1) rained on the visiting New York Sharks (1-1). The game started with overcast skies, temperature in the low 40's and wind gusts over 10 mph. Boston won the coin toss and elected to receive.
The Sharks were looking forward to this game. A win against a division rival would greatly increase the Sharks chances of getting to the playoffs but they were also looking to get some revenge against a team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year. And to top it all off, the Sharks were riding a 4 game losing streak to the Militia.
The game did not start off well for the visitors. On the first play from scrimmage, former Shark and now running back Chante Bonds for the Boston Militia dropped a sideline pass for no gain, but New York was called for off-sides and that put the ball at the Boston 42-yard line. From here Boston kept running the ball against New York as they marched down the field. Another off-sides penalty on the Sharks and the Militia were deep in New York territory. Boston quarterback Alison Cahill then went to the air and found another former Shark Adrienne Smith open for a 19 yard gain to the Sharks 16-yard line. Cahill tried to go to the air on the very next play but New York linebacker Darleen Hall chased the quartrerback out of the pocket and to the right sideline. From there Cahill was able to scamper down the sideline and just made it into the endzone for the first score of the game.
The Militia drew first blood and made it look easy. It only took them 8 plays to cover 63 yards and they never got into a third down situation. Ashely Snyder kicked the extra point and the score was 7-0 in favor of the home team with 9:36 left in the first quarter.
New York tried to answer right back by coming out throwing. Quarterback Karen Mulligan hit wide receiver Lauren Pringle for a nice 13 yard gain, but then had 3 incomplete passes that forced the Sharks to punt.
Boston put on a good rush during the punt and Sharks punter Joy Dollison had to rush her kick. That plus she was kicking into a strong wind, the ball only went 10 yards, giving Boston the ball on their own 39-yard line.
Again Boston stayed on the ground and methodically moved down the field. Once they got into Sharks territory, Cahill again went to the air for a 30 yard pick-up. Cahill then handed the ball off to Bonds who ran up the middle for a 16 yard touchdown. It was another 8 play drive by the Militia and after another Snyder extra point, the Sharks were down by two touchdowns at the end of the first quarter.
As Yogi Berra would say, it was deja vue all over again as Boston scored on 8 plays on their very next drive. This time all 8 plays were on the ground as the Militia front line just pushed the New York defensive line around as backs Donaldson and Stacey Tiamfook picked up multiple double digit gains on their carries. The scoring play was a quarterback sneak by Cahill from the 2-yard line. After the extra point, Boston had a pretty commanding 3 touchdown lead with 7:01 left in the first half.
The game was quickly sliding away and it didn't make matters any better when the Sharks fumbled the ball back to Boston, giving the Militia a first down at the New York 34-yard line. But this time the defense was able to keep Boston out of the endzone. The Militia did try for a 40-yard field goal attempt but the windy conditions blew the ball short and to the left of the goalposts.
With the first half coming to a close and New York down by 3 scores, the Sharks were desperate to put up a score. Relying on the arm of Mulligan and running back Odessa Jenkins, the Sharks were able to march down the field into the Boston red zone. But time was running out, the Sharks were on the Boston 6-yard line but there was only 24 seconds left in the half. Mulligan threw a pass to a wide open Val Halesworth but she was only at the 5 yard line. She thought she had some running room and ran back to the middle of the field towards the endzone instead of heading for the sideline. She was tackeld at the 2-yard as time quickly ticked away. New York quickly rushed to the line of scrimmage and Mulligan was able to spike the ball with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. With the clock stopped, the Sharks were able to get their field goal unit onto the field, but the wind affected this kick as well and it went wide right as time expired.
The Sharks made some adjustments in the second half and played much better, but being down by 3 touchdowns was too much. On offense, New York was able to move the ball mostly through the air but when they got into the red zone, they just could not punch it in for the touchdown. And being down by 3 touchdowns, they had to forego the field goal attempts.
The defense played much better but they did have one lapse. Similar to a play in Philadelphia, the secondary let a wide receiver get behind them and like in Philadlephia, the opposing team's quarterback burned the Sharks. This time it was Smith who went deep and scored on a 73 yard pass play. Snyder kicked the extra point and the Militia pushed their lead to 28-0.
It looked like New York might get shutout when they got the ball on their own 25-yard line with less than 2 minutes left to play in the game. With nothing to lose, Mulligan came out firing. She threw for 9 straight plays and connected on 5 of them. The big play was a 33 yard gain to Jen Blum on a 4th down and 14 yards to go. Mulligan threw a perfect pass down the right side line that Blum made a nice grab before being forced out of bounds at the Boston 15-yard line.
Mulligan then hit Pringle with a pass down the middle to the 2-yard line, but Pringle fought her way the last 2 yards to get the New Yorkers on the scoreboard. Joy Dollison spllit the uprights for the extra point and the Sharks avoided getting a zero for the game. The final score was 28-7 in favor of the ladies from Beantown.
This was another tough loss at the hands of the Boston Militia. Boston dominated most of the game and this stretched the Sharks losing streak to 5 games against Boston. Before this losing streak, the Sharks had beaten a Boston team 9 times in a row.
The Sharks have a week off before they finally head home to play their 13th home opener on April 30th. The Sharks are back in Staten Island as they will play the New England NightMares (0-2), kick-off is at 3pm (EDT) at Moore Cathollic High School. If you can't make it to the game, you can still follow all the action on IYMSportsRadio.com as Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell describe all of the action. Plus you can join us in talking about the game as we will comment live from the broadcast booth during the game on our Facebook page in the discussion section.
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BOS - (09:36) Cahill 21 yard run (Snyder kick)
BOS - (01:42) Bonds 12 yard pass from Cahill (Snyder kick)
Second Quarter
BOS - (07:01) Cahill 2 yard run (Snyder kick)
Fourth Quarter
BOS - (07:13) Smith 72 yard pass from Cahill (Snyder kick)
NY - (00:21) Pringle 15 yard pass from Mulligan (Dollison kick)
It was a dark and stormy night, and while the rain clouds didn't burst until after the game, the Boston Militia (1-1) rained on the visiting New York Sharks (1-1). The game started with overcast skies, temperature in the low 40's and wind gusts over 10 mph. Boston won the coin toss and elected to receive.
The Sharks were looking forward to this game. A win against a division rival would greatly increase the Sharks chances of getting to the playoffs but they were also looking to get some revenge against a team that knocked them out of the playoffs last year. And to top it all off, the Sharks were riding a 4 game losing streak to the Militia.
The game did not start off well for the visitors. On the first play from scrimmage, former Shark and now running back Chante Bonds for the Boston Militia dropped a sideline pass for no gain, but New York was called for off-sides and that put the ball at the Boston 42-yard line. From here Boston kept running the ball against New York as they marched down the field. Another off-sides penalty on the Sharks and the Militia were deep in New York territory. Boston quarterback Alison Cahill then went to the air and found another former Shark Adrienne Smith open for a 19 yard gain to the Sharks 16-yard line. Cahill tried to go to the air on the very next play but New York linebacker Darleen Hall chased the quartrerback out of the pocket and to the right sideline. From there Cahill was able to scamper down the sideline and just made it into the endzone for the first score of the game.
The Militia drew first blood and made it look easy. It only took them 8 plays to cover 63 yards and they never got into a third down situation. Ashely Snyder kicked the extra point and the score was 7-0 in favor of the home team with 9:36 left in the first quarter.
New York tried to answer right back by coming out throwing. Quarterback Karen Mulligan hit wide receiver Lauren Pringle for a nice 13 yard gain, but then had 3 incomplete passes that forced the Sharks to punt.
Boston put on a good rush during the punt and Sharks punter Joy Dollison had to rush her kick. That plus she was kicking into a strong wind, the ball only went 10 yards, giving Boston the ball on their own 39-yard line.
Again Boston stayed on the ground and methodically moved down the field. Once they got into Sharks territory, Cahill again went to the air for a 30 yard pick-up. Cahill then handed the ball off to Bonds who ran up the middle for a 16 yard touchdown. It was another 8 play drive by the Militia and after another Snyder extra point, the Sharks were down by two touchdowns at the end of the first quarter.
As Yogi Berra would say, it was deja vue all over again as Boston scored on 8 plays on their very next drive. This time all 8 plays were on the ground as the Militia front line just pushed the New York defensive line around as backs Donaldson and Stacey Tiamfook picked up multiple double digit gains on their carries. The scoring play was a quarterback sneak by Cahill from the 2-yard line. After the extra point, Boston had a pretty commanding 3 touchdown lead with 7:01 left in the first half.
The game was quickly sliding away and it didn't make matters any better when the Sharks fumbled the ball back to Boston, giving the Militia a first down at the New York 34-yard line. But this time the defense was able to keep Boston out of the endzone. The Militia did try for a 40-yard field goal attempt but the windy conditions blew the ball short and to the left of the goalposts.
With the first half coming to a close and New York down by 3 scores, the Sharks were desperate to put up a score. Relying on the arm of Mulligan and running back Odessa Jenkins, the Sharks were able to march down the field into the Boston red zone. But time was running out, the Sharks were on the Boston 6-yard line but there was only 24 seconds left in the half. Mulligan threw a pass to a wide open Val Halesworth but she was only at the 5 yard line. She thought she had some running room and ran back to the middle of the field towards the endzone instead of heading for the sideline. She was tackeld at the 2-yard as time quickly ticked away. New York quickly rushed to the line of scrimmage and Mulligan was able to spike the ball with 0.5 seconds left on the clock. With the clock stopped, the Sharks were able to get their field goal unit onto the field, but the wind affected this kick as well and it went wide right as time expired.
The Sharks made some adjustments in the second half and played much better, but being down by 3 touchdowns was too much. On offense, New York was able to move the ball mostly through the air but when they got into the red zone, they just could not punch it in for the touchdown. And being down by 3 touchdowns, they had to forego the field goal attempts.
The defense played much better but they did have one lapse. Similar to a play in Philadelphia, the secondary let a wide receiver get behind them and like in Philadlephia, the opposing team's quarterback burned the Sharks. This time it was Smith who went deep and scored on a 73 yard pass play. Snyder kicked the extra point and the Militia pushed their lead to 28-0.
It looked like New York might get shutout when they got the ball on their own 25-yard line with less than 2 minutes left to play in the game. With nothing to lose, Mulligan came out firing. She threw for 9 straight plays and connected on 5 of them. The big play was a 33 yard gain to Jen Blum on a 4th down and 14 yards to go. Mulligan threw a perfect pass down the right side line that Blum made a nice grab before being forced out of bounds at the Boston 15-yard line.
Mulligan then hit Pringle with a pass down the middle to the 2-yard line, but Pringle fought her way the last 2 yards to get the New Yorkers on the scoreboard. Joy Dollison spllit the uprights for the extra point and the Sharks avoided getting a zero for the game. The final score was 28-7 in favor of the ladies from Beantown.
This was another tough loss at the hands of the Boston Militia. Boston dominated most of the game and this stretched the Sharks losing streak to 5 games against Boston. Before this losing streak, the Sharks had beaten a Boston team 9 times in a row.
The Sharks have a week off before they finally head home to play their 13th home opener on April 30th. The Sharks are back in Staten Island as they will play the New England NightMares (0-2), kick-off is at 3pm (EDT) at Moore Cathollic High School. If you can't make it to the game, you can still follow all the action on IYMSportsRadio.com as Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell describe all of the action. Plus you can join us in talking about the game as we will comment live from the broadcast booth during the game on our Facebook page in the discussion section.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Sharks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Boston Militia | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 28 |
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
BOS - (09:36) Cahill 21 yard run (Snyder kick)
BOS - (01:42) Bonds 12 yard pass from Cahill (Snyder kick)
Second Quarter
BOS - (07:01) Cahill 2 yard run (Snyder kick)
Fourth Quarter
BOS - (07:13) Smith 72 yard pass from Cahill (Snyder kick)
NY - (00:21) Pringle 15 yard pass from Mulligan (Dollison kick)
No comments:
Post a Comment