A Game to Remember!

Last Thursday night's PSAA Girls Varsity Soccer Championship Game which pitted The Portledge Lady Panther Booters v. the Lady Lions of Staten Island Academy was an athletic contest that will certainly be remembered for a long time. It was a physical match that somehow the refs managed to keep just on the edge of out of control, but still relatively safe for the players, as well as an illustration of excellent soccer skill and tactics demonstrated by both sides. Portledge's 1-0 sudden victory in double overtime made the game a very happy memory for everyone involved in Portledge athletics but in reality this contest was something of which both teams should be proud. The final result could just as easily gone the other way in what was an up and down affair, and both sides left everything they had on the field. Congratulations to the players on both Portledge and Staten Island for playing in what was one of the greatest games in the history of Portledge athletics.

Where does this game rank in the list of great Portledge games?

After giving this question some real thought, the conclusion reached is that it belongs in the top three Portledge games of all time. Back in the late 1990s there were a series of tremendous Varsity Boys Ice Hockey games. Victories over the Hill School, Lawrenceville, Millbrook, New Hampton, Pingree, Pomfret and others. While they were all extraordinary in their own way, they seem to blend together in an era of great Varsity Boys Ice Hockey play. There have also been mumerous Varsity Boys Soccer games that can be remembered with tremendous fondness. Just last year there was a thrilling 2-1 win over Packer that was exceptional and went a long way in establishing the quality of the current Boys Soccer Program. It is to the girls, however, that one has to give the top three spots, along with an honorable mention to last year's NYSAISAA Championship lacrosse game as fourth. They are in no specific order because they were all amazing. We'll go first with January, 2007 Portledge Varsity Girls Ice Hockey @ Lawrenceville. Junior captain Siena Falino scores seven goals to lead the Panthers to a 9-8 overtime victory. Certainly the greatest individual achievement in Portledge sports, thus consideration as the greatest game. Next, one would go to late October, 2004 Portledge Varsity Girls Soccer @ Lawrence Woodmere Academy in the last game of the regular season with a play off spot on the line for the winner. Tied throughout the second half the game was decided in the last minute when then Freshman Alex Siwiec sent a beautiful cross into the box only to see Junior Monica Mangani bycicle kick the ball over her head into the LWA net. The girls made the PSAA play offs for the first time and this great run of Girls Soccer had begun. Lastly we come to last weeks Championship Game in Varsity Girls Soccer v. SIA. The inclusion of this game is based on all the hard work put in by a group of girls who have been playing soccer together for four years. The game and the team is so special because of the thunderous sweeper play of Claudia Rogers - who decided to make a sacrifice for the team by playing in the back and went on to earn Tournament MVP for her sheer dominance of the championship game - and because of the determination of Chelsea Caracciolo - who basically playing on one foot made run after run up the left side until she came onto the perfect ball and neatly netted it into the SIA goal for sudden victory - and becuase of the tenacity of Addie Reilly who along with Monique Kelly and Denise Mikalev battled the SIA players in midfield all game long. We could go on and on to mention the savvy of Natalie Flammia or the all out effort of Natalie Gray, or what about the key saves delivered by goaltender Chelsea Estevez. In the end though, I can honestly say that I have never seen two teams go at each other like this and that's what makes this one so special! WAIT - I forgot all about the hockey rivalry with Mo Beard...........

"Glory Days"

To say that things came together this fall in Portledge Athletics would be an understatement. In an unprecedented show of gender balance, our Varsity Girls and Boys Soccer teams both captured the regular season championships of their respective leagues and earned automatic bids into the NYSAIASAA Soccer Championship Tournaments. Since then the Varsity Girls have gone onto win the PSAA Post Season Tournament Championship with two incredible 1-0 victories over long time rivals Berkeley Carroll and Staten Island Academy. On the Boys side, even though they suffered a heart breaking defeat to Lu Hi in the final of the IPPSAL Post Season Championship Tournament, their regular season title was their third straight and speaks volumes about the consistently high quality of Head Coach Kevin Coleman's Varsity Boys Soccer program. In addition to these tremendous soccer accomplishments, the Varsity Girls Tennis team captured its second consecutive, and thirteenth overall, IPPSAL Girls Tennis Championship. The Lady Panther Netters were only able to continue the trend of Portledge dominance of IPPSAL Girls Tennis because of exceptional Senior leadership on the part of Robyn Worrall, Elizabeth Girgenti and Stephanie Hegarty. The success of the athletic program at Portledge does not stop there though as the Middle School soccer teams enjoyed a very successful year in competition against our local day school rivals from Green Vale, Buckley, Holy Child and East Woods. The 7/8 Boys Soccer team led the way with a 7-2-1 overall mark that was highlighted by some tremendous play throughout the fall. Not only did the team have a exceptional group of attackers in Ronel Juste, Cameron Daniels, Kyle Flowers David Anderson and Solomon Hur, but the cadre of deep players made up of the Roel brothers, Jimmy and Tommy, stopper Sam Lerner and sweeper Zak Kleinwaks were stingiest defense in memory. Behing all this there was goaltender par excellence Patrick Byrnes. As team leader Byrnes consistently made incredible saves look easy as he was a rock in the Panther nets. Many great keepers have worn the Portledge crest, but Patrick Byrnes has the opportunity to go on and be the not only the strongest goaltender in Portledge history, but possibly one of the finest soccer players we have ever had at this institution. The 7/8 Girls team won several games this fall and showed a marked improvement in their overall play. Head Coach Miss Maiello will have most of her team returning next year and with the addition of a few more pieces from an also improved 5/6 Girls program should be very hard to beat in the fall of 2010. While the 5/6 Boys Soccer team, Middle School Coed Cross Country team, and Varsity Coed Cross Country teams are all still developing programs, there is no shortage of effort on behalf of their players to make those teams as strong as possible Thus, it is with a great amount of appreciation and congratulations that we commend all the Portledge fall sports players and coaches on a fantastic 2009 fall sports season. Special thanks also go out to all the parents and faculty who came out and supported our athletes this fall. Lastly, please give our Varsity Soccer players, both girls and boys, a wish of good luck as they prepare to compete in the state independent school championships coming up this week. The boys will play first on Wednesday, Nov 4th @ Randall's Island - Field # 70 (3:45pm) in a round of 16 game v. Lycee Francais of NYC. If they can secure a positive result, they will be back at Randall's Isaland the next day to face 2nd seeded UNIS. The Varsity Girls team will move right to the quarter finals when they face 2nd seeded St Ann's of Brooklyn on Thursday, Nov 5th at 3:45 at either the Red Hook or Aviator Field complex. Please feel free to check the homepage of portledge.org for more details as those contests draw closer. You can also learn a bit more about Portledge Athletics as Hey Hills goes on to answer a question we have heard a lot lately!

How is it that Portledge is experiencing so much success lately in its athletic programs?


The one thing that has become apparent during this exciting run of athletic accomplishments at Portledge is that, while hard work does not guarantee victory, it certainly does consistently put you in a position to achieve great things, and that if you put yourselves in that position often enough, you gain the type of experience, that when coupled with hard work, brings success. That's certainly a lot to say in one sentence and I'm not sure if it's even grammatically correct - I guess I'll have to check with someone in the English Dep't - but I do know that it is emphatically true. Portledge has enjoyed many periods of athletic bloom. During the late 1980s Boys Soccer and Lacrosse, and Girls Tennis were all having a great deal of success and establishing themselves as foundational blocks in the Portledge Athletic program. The 1990s saw Boys Tennis go through a boom and the Varsity Boys Ice Hockey team reached tremendous heights as it consistently defeated very strong prep opponents from around the country and was a team on which future NHL players honed their skills. This latest round of progress and growth in Portledge Athletics really began six tears ago when Michael Coope challenged a group of girls soccer players to work harder than they ever had athletically and to come together as a group as they never has before. The result, in only the fourth year of the programs existence, was a trip to the PSAA Girls Soccer Championship and the realization that hard work, and commitment to each other, could certainly breed success and put you in position to achieve great things. Since then we have seen the Girls Basketball program challenge for championships behind the relentless play and exceptional leadership of Emily Edwards Bourdrez, the creation of a Girls Ice Hockey and Baseball programs and in the case of Girls Ice Hockey its ultimate evolution to championship status. All of these developments have beeen powered by the hard work of players and coaches and their commitment to the success of our programs. Now that we are getting to these lofty places more often, we know how to prepare and how to act once we are there. So whether you are a girls or boys ice hockey, basketball, soccer, tennis, lacrosse, baseball or softball player - be ready to work, have a great overall experience and ultimately achieve some great things of your own.