CABOT CREAMERY Player of the Week (3)

Cheri Eleazer was named the CABOT CREAMERY Playerof the Week by New York Sharks broadcasters Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell for week 3. Eleazer intercepted 2 Connecticut passes and returned one 45 yards for a score.

Countdown to 100 - Sharks Greatest Games #5

Defensive Impasse
The New York Sharks are making history this year. On May 22nd against the Baltimore Nighthawks they will be the first women's football team to play their 100th game. To commemorate that feat, we will reveal each week one of the 5 greatest games in team history. The selection was done after extensive research and statistical analysis (actually we used a brand new Ouija board).

For this week the fifth greatest Sharks game we have to go back to 2004. That year the IWFL put the powerhouse Chicago Force in the same division as the Sharks. The Force had easily won their division the year before but now they were pitted against the New Yorkers. And with two games scheduled against each other, it was like having 2 playoff games during the regular season.

On May 8th in Chicago, it was the first time that these two teams met and despite both teams having very high octane offenses, the game turned into a defensive classic. Chicago was averaging over 50 points a game but New York was able to stifle them. And except for one scoring drive the Force kept the Sharks in check.

New York's lone score came on a drive that began with a hard running attack in the first quarter, led by Missy Marmorale and Monica Marsh. But once they got to the Chicago red zone, quarterback Val Haleworth connected with Jen Blum for the score.

Chicago on offense was a little more successful in moving the ball but the Sharks defense would only bend and not break. The Force might have won the game except for some questionable decisions by their coaching staff. Twice Chicago had the ball on the Sharks' 10-yard line or less on fourth down. Each time they elected to go for the touchdown instead of the short field goal try.

The game was a nail biter to the end as the Sharks were at their own 11-yard line with 2 minutes left. Instead of chancing a big punt return, Halesworth ran out of the endzone for a safety. Still, on the free kick the Force brought the ball back to the New York 38-yard line. But from there the Sharks defense shut down Chicago to end the game.

The final score was more like from a baseball game, 6-2. It was close throughout the game with both defenses shutting down some of the best offenses in the league. When it was over the Sharks prevailed and had a very happy flight back to the Big Apple. Of course they had a great time in Chicago after the game too, but that is another story.

For more details on the game, visit the Sharks' gameday write-up.

Next week at #4, Showtime.

Cabot Creamery Player of the Week (2)

Fatima Carvey was named the CABOT CREAMERY Playerof the Week by New York Sharks broadcasters Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell for week 2. She handed out hard hits like candy.

Game Day: Divas at Sharks

Brooklyn, New York, April 17, 2010
This week's game would tell if the Sharks are back as one of the top flight teams in women's football. They were hosting the IWFL Eastern Conference Champion D.C. Divas in the Sharks' historic 12th season opener. A competitive battle would prove the point and a win would put an exclamation on it. The New York Sharks (2-0) had easily dispatched the inexperienced Philadelphia Firebirds that week before but the D.C. Divas (1-1) just as easily handled the Baltimore Nighthawks too. And prior to last week, the Nighthawks demolished the Firebirds, so not much could be gleamed on how well New York will do against the visitors.

The day started off as most typical Shark openers go, with rain. But this home opener would be a first for under the lights and by the time kick-off came around the rain had stopped. Still it was quite chilly with the temperatures in the low 50's, but by the end of the game it got much colder.

The game started with the D.C. Divas kicking off the football, but they quickly got it back. The kick was short and bounced just in front of Lauren Pringle as she ran up to try and field the football. The ball took a sharp bounce away from Pringle and in front of her. Before she could catch up with the ball, D.C. recovered the kick. This gave the Divas excellent field position to start the game at the Sharks' 33-yard line.

Last week the Sharks defense completely shut down Philadelphia and they proved to be in fine form this week too as they held the Divas to only 2 yards on 3 plays. With the ball on the New York 31-yard line, D.C. went for it on fourth down but newcomer Ebony Jones broke through the line and sacked the D.C. quarterback Kathryn Hemlock.

New York's offensive game plan was revealed quite early and that was pass. Quarterback Karen Mulligan wasted no time in going to the air and was able to move the team down to the Divas 35-yard line before the drive stalled. The Sharks might have proceeded farther but twice Mulligan's passes were dropped by New York receivers. It was a theme that repeated itself with alarming frequency throughout the evening.

D.C.'s game plan was exactly the opposite. They eschewed the pass and went to their smash-mouth running game. Nothing too fancy, just give the ball to their running back and it is up to you to try and stop her. Hemlock kept handing the ball to Tiffany Matthews, Okiima Pickett, and Kenyetta Grigsby. Each time they would blast their way through for 3 to 9 yards at a time. But once they got into the red zone, D.C. went play- action pass and Hemlock threw a 13 yard pass to Tara Stephenson in the endzone. It was a very nice 11 play drive by D.C. New York was going to have to come up with an answer to stop this punishing running attack or it was going to be a long evening.

Again on the kick-off, New York had trouble fielding the ball but they kept possession of it. They started their first drive from their own 17-yard line. The first play was a nifty run by Kathy Holloman. Wearing her trademark red shoes, she gained 35 yards to move the ball into D.C. territory. But from there the Sharks offense sputtered and they were forced to punt.

Coming into punt for the Sharks was Megan Antonucci. Antonucci returned to the Sharks this year after taking off last season. This was her first punt in over a year as last week the Sharks did not have to punt against Philadelphia. All of that time off did not seem to hurt Antonucci as her kick netted 40 yards and pinned the Divas back to their own 6-yard line.

The Divas went back to their running game and was able to pick up 9 yards on 3 carries. But even though they only needed one more yard, it was too much of a gamble from their own 15-yard line and they decided to punt the ball. New York continued to have trouble with kick returns and they let this ball bounce back to the Sharks' 37-yard line.

New York kept with their air bourne strategy and the first pass by Mulligan on this drive was dropped by Chante Bonds. But after that, Mulligan's next 4 pass attempts not only found their targets, but the targets held onto the football. Pringle caught 12 and 8 yard passes and Bonds made up for her drop with a 31 and 12 yard receptions. The latter catch resulting in a New York touchdown. Antonucci showed she hadn't lost on thing on her kicking skills and split the uprights for the extra point to tie the game at 7 a piece with 12:15 left in the second quarter.

The Sharks scored again with 2:38 left to go in the first half. This drive started on the Divas 38-yard line and after a 13 yard catch by Pringle, Jennifer Blum picked up the rest of the yardage. It was a short pass to Blum who was quickly surrounded by 2 D.C. defenders. Blum spun around to shake off her would be tacklers and then sprinted down the left side line into the endzone, shedding one final tackler at the 1-yard line. It was a pretty spectacular run by Blum to put New York up by 6. Antonucci's kick for the extra point went wide but the Sharks had the lead.

With not much time left before the end of the half, the Divas did not have much time to grind out a score. The visitors had to open up their offensive play a little bit but it didn't help as Hemlock was sacked by Mandy Oppel and the last play of the half was an interception by Pringle.

The Divas started the second half with the ball and they went back to the basics. Using their relentless pounding running game, they grinded out a touchdown on ten straight running plays. The capper was Matthews for the final 2 yards into the endzone. The extra point went wide and this kept the score tied with 6:21 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing kick off, Pringle fumbled the ball away and the Divas recovered. After flawless play last week on special teams, the Sharks went completely in the opposite direction. With the ball resting on the New York 34-yard line it looked like it was only a matter of time before D.C. got on the board again. If it ain't broke, don't fix it and the Divas used that as their mantra running the ball again and again. They got the ball down to the Sharks' 8-yard line before they got hit with two illegal shift penalties in a row. This pushed the Divas back and they went to their passing game. This didn't help as Toni Salvatore was able to snuff out the D.C. drive with an interception at the goal line.

While the Sharks dodged one bullet they were clearing standing in front of another one as they had first down on their own 3-yard line. To make matters worse, they were hit with too many men on the field penalty and that backed them up to the 1-yard line. Mulligan tried to pass her way out of danger but another dropped pass on third down forced the Sharks to punt.

With her feet at the back of the endzone, Antonucci shanked the kick. It went up about 10 yards in the air but only 4 yards forward. It was so short that the ball bounced off a Diva's helmut who was blocking a Shark at the line of scrimmage. New York recovered the ball and they now had a new set of downs from their own 5-yard line. New York was able to move the ball a bit farther out when Mulligan connected with Pringle for an 18-yard gain but quickly were forced to punt again from their own 27-yard line.

Maybe it was the wind currents or maybe there was something in the water. Antonucci's punt this time went very high but not too far. But like New York, D.C. was having trouble with their special teams play and they again fumbled the ball away to the home team. When you get 2 big opportunities like this you have to take advantage of them. This time New York tried to shuffle things around and went to the ground attack. At first it worked out well with a 17 yard run by Mulligan and then an electrifying 26 yard run by Holloman. The sharks got the ball as far as the 9-yard line before the drive stalled and New York was turned away with no points. The Sharks might have scored but there was another dropped pass in the endzone.

The New York defense came up big on D.C.'s next drive with the Sharks forcing the Diva's to punt. With time starting to run down into single digits, Mulligan used her arm and this time her receivers all came through in the clutch. New York moved the ball downfield in chunks with receptions to Smith and Blum. But after a quarterback sack on third down with less than 3 minutes left to go in regulation, it looked like New York might come up short. It was fourth down, the ball was on the 28-yard line and the Sharks needed to get to the 17-yard line for a fresh set of downs. Mulligan dropped back with heavy pressure around her, but she calmly lofted a pass that Smith caught at the 1-yard line. From there, Mulligan called her own number and punched it through for the go ahead touchdown. Antonucci's kick was short but the Sharks had the lead with less than 2 minutes left to go in the game.

Last year in the Eastern Conference Championship Game, the Divas had just given up a touchdown with less than one minute left to Boston. But before the cheering from the Boston fans could stop, the Divas ran the kick off back for a touchdown to win the game. With D.C. if there is time on the clock, they are still a very dangerous team. Even though time was scarce, Stephenson got the Divas in good field position by returning the kick off to the New York 44-yard line. Playing against the prevent defense, Hemlock took advantage and made two quick strikes of 16 yard each to Stephenson and Esther George. With the ball resting on the 12-yard line, the Divas called a running play and gave it to LaShawn Foust for a big 6 yard gain to the 6-yard line. With less than a minute left, Hemlock threw a sideline pass to Stephenson who was quickly tackled by Bonds for no gain. It was now fourth down and Hemlock threw the ball on a timing route to Stephenson in the endzone. The ball bounced off her fingertips and fell harmlessly to the ground. The Sharks won.

By beating the Eastern Conference Champions, this proved that the Sharks are back with the elite teams of women's pro football. The victory improves the Sharks record to 2-0 and they are now tied at the top of a very crowded North Atlantic Division with the Boston Militia (2-0) and the Pittsburgh Passion (2-0). Both of these teams are on New York's tough schedule. But until that time, the Sharks play the Connecticut Crushers next week at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn. If you cannot make it, listen to Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell describe all of the action on WFNradio. Kick-off time is 3:30pm (EDT).

D.C. Divas 7-0-6-0: 13
New York Sharks 0-13-0-6: 19

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
DC - (04:21) Stephenson 13 yard pass from Hemlock (Hemlock kick)

Second Quarter
NY - (12:15) Bonds 12 yard pass from Mulligan (Antonucci kick)
NY - (02:38) Blum 25 yard pass from Mulligan (Kick failed)

Third Quarter
DC - (06:21) Matthews 2 yard run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter
NY - (01:54) Mulligan 1 yard run (Kick failed)

CABOT CREAMERY Players of the Week (1)

New York Sharks Chante Bonds and Lauren Pringle were named the CABOT CREAMERY Players of the Week for April 10th. They were selected by broadcasters Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell after their electrifying returns of kicks against the Philadelphia Firebirds.

Game Day: Sharks at Firebirds

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 10, 2010
The New York Sharks (1-0) opened up their 2010 season on the road to take on the Philadelphia Firebirds (0-2). The Sharks had a bye while the Firebirds played Baltimore last week to kick-off the IWFL season. This was an important game for New York, not only because it was against a division rival, but it was also the first game for new head coach Fabian Alessandro. But while it was a new coach, many veteran players returned to the team after missing last season. Lakisha Grant, Virginia Leon, Faith Mitchell, Kathy Holloman, Leeann Brzozowski, and Gabrielle Nazaire all returned for the 2010 campaign.

It was a nice Spring evening when the two teams took to the field. The Firebirds won the coin toss and elected to receive the ball. The Sharks defense looked in fine mid-season form as Philadelphia lost 5 yards during their possession and were quickly forced to punt.

At first on offense, New York was a little bit shaky as they were quickly hit with a holding and then an offsides penalty. But Holloman wearing her famous red shoes was able to rush for 2 first downs. After another holding penalty the Sharks were moved backwards and needed 20 yards to get a first down. On the next play, Quarterback Karen Mulligan dropped back and threw the football intended for receiver Jennifer Blum down the right sideline. The Philadelphia defender panicked and tackled Blum before the ball got there and the Sharks were given a 27 yard gift.

With the ball on the Firebirds' 17-yard line, Mulligan handed the ball off to running back Mandy Oppel. After 4 touches, Oppel got into the endzone to give the Sharks the early lead. New York went for the two-point conversion and Mulligan found Chante Bonds open in the back of the endzone to make the score 8-0 with 8:26 left to go in the first quarter.

On their next possession, Philadelphia could not advance the ball and quickly were forced to punt. This was a theme that continued throughout the game as the New York defense stopped everything that the Firebirds could throw and run at them. New York held the home team to negative total yards but also to no first downs throughout the whole game. On offense, the Sharks could do no wrong as they did not punt the entire game.

On the Firebirds punt, Bonds returned the ball 27 yards to give the Sharks a first down on their own 44-yard line. Mulligan again went to the air and connected with Lauren Pringle in stride for a big 41 yard gain to the Philadelphia 15-yard line. The ball was then put into the hands of Holloman who was able to punch it into the endzone on 2 running plays. The Sharks were successful on the 2-point conversion as Mulligan found Blum all alone in the endzone. This made the score 16-0 with 4:44 left in the first quarter.

The New York defense continued to keep the pressure on the Firebirds as Sharks Jessica Vazquez and Mitchell sacked Firebirds' quarterback Pam Downey on third down and forced the home team to punt again. It took less than a minute for the Sharks to strike again as Bonds returned the punt 50 yards for New York's third touchdown of the quarter. It was a spectacular return as she caught the football off her shoetops running full speed. She then ran down the right sideline and at the 15-yard line jumped up into the air to avoid a tackle before finishing up in the endzone. The Sharks missed the conversion, but the score was now 22-0 and the rout was on.

The second quarter went pretty much the same as the first. The Sharks defense would not let anything or anyone past the line of scrimmage and on offense, running backs Holloman and Oppel just pounded the ball up the middle for two more scores. The last touchdown of the quarter though was a nifty pass play by Mulligan. She threw a short 12 yard pass down the middle to receiver Adrienne Smith. The pass was just behind the line Phiadelphia linebackers and from there Smith only had to beat one Firebird to the endzone for a 34 yard touchdown play. At this point, the Sharks felt comfortable to test out their kicking game and brand new kicker Kriste McTamaney trotted out onto the field. Her first attempt split the uprights and the score at the end of the first half was now 45-0.

In the second half, the Sharks mostly ran the ball. On one drive, Nazaire was given the ball eight times straight and she went off-tackle eight times straight. Even though it was basically the same play over and over, the Firebirds could not stop the little runner and she scored her first touchdown of the season.

By the fourth quarter, Isabella Bluhm was the running back and she kept pounding the ball up the middle until she scored from the 1-yard line. McTamaney kicked the extra point and that was the end of the Sharks scoring for the game.

Offensively Philadelphia could not get anything going and the day ended for them by fumbling the football away at their own 32-yard line. Shana Segers recovered the ball and the Sharks ended the game by taking a knee.

It was a satisfying win for the Sharks as it gave their head coach a victory under his belt and they dominated in every aspect of the game. But Philadelphia is a young team that is rebuilding with a new coach so this is not really the best test for New York. Their first big test of the season will come this weekend as they take on the Eastern Conference champion D.C. Divas for the Sharks home opener. The Divas were undfeated during the regualar season last year and they are continuing that streak this year. This game will show how good the Sharks really are, so come on out to Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn to watch what should be one of the best games of the season. If you cannot make it, listen to Pat Brown and Dave Maxwell describe all of the action on WFNradio. Also helping them out in the booth will be NFL's Sam Rapoport. Kick-off time is 7:30pm (EDT).

New York Sharks 22-23-12-7: 64
Philadelphia Firebirds 0-0-0-0: 0

Scoring Summary

First Quarter
NY - (08:26) Oppel 1 yard run (Bonds pass from Mulligan)
NY - (04:44) Holloman 2 yard run (Blum pass from Mulligan)
NY - (01:31) Bonds 50 yard punt return (pass failed)

Second Quarter
NY - (13:50) Holloman 5 yard run (Pringle pass from Mulligan)
NY - (10:51) Mulligan 2 yard run (Blum pass from Mulligan)
NY - (02:40) Smith 34 yard pass from Mulligan (McTamaney kick)

Third Quarter
NY - (09:23) Nazaire 1 yard run (kick failed)
NY - (04:05) Mulligan 3 yard run (kick failed)

Fourth Quarter
NY - (09:09) Bluhm 1 yard run (McTamaney kick)

Countdown to 100

The New York Sharks are on track to be the first women's professional football team to play their 100th game. That historic game will take place on May 22nd when the Sharks host the Baltimore Nighthawks at the Aviator Sports Complex in Brooklyn, New York.

It all started in 1999 when a women's barn storming football team challenged the flag-football team, the Long Island Sharks to a full contact, tackle football game. The Sharks picked up other flag-football players from around the New York metropolitan area and with only two months to prepare took on the Minnesota Vixens. In front of only 300 patrons at Uniondale, Long Island, the underdog Sharks came from behind to defeat the visitors, 16-12.

From these humble beginnings, the Sharks have become a trailblazer in women's professional football.

Over 260 women have put on the black and blue uniform over the past dozen years and with continued success. The team has forged a 80-20 won-loss record for a .800 winning percentage, 6 division titles, 3 conference titles, and one national title.

As we come upon this historic event, we will be listing the 5 Greatest Games in New York Sharks history. Each week we will reveal one game from the top 5.