Girl's Soccer: Junior high booters finish season in deadlock

The joint Greenport/Shelter Island junior high soccer team finished its season on November 5 in a 1-1 tie with Mattituck. Most of the Porters’ games have been close matches and that Friday contest was no exception. Both squads scored their one goal in the fourth quarter and couldn’t break the tie even after 20 minutes of overtime.

Of the season’s 10 games, the Porters tied once, won once and lost the rest. But Coach Christine Aviles-Nott, a teacher at Greenport Elementary School, wasn’t focused on the season record: “Most of the girls on the team have never played before, so they were really just learning. We’ve been working on basic skills and teamwork.”

The girls’ efforts during the season paid off, judging by their performance in their season finish. “The defense played particularly well,” Coach Aviles-Nott said, adding “we’ve been working on a lot of different offensive plays this year and they really seemed to come together in this game. I’m very proud of them.”

There were six Shelter Island girls on the squad, all seventh-graders: Serina Kaasik, Margaret Michalak, Kelly Colligan, Elizabeth Dunning, Kenna McCarthy and Colibri Lopez. It’s the largest contingent of junior high students from the Rock on a fall team this year.

“We’re very happy that we had six of them come over,” commented Coach Aviles-Nott. “They’re really nice girls and they’re very hard working.” She hopes that Shelter Island players will continue to fill out the team’s roster in future years and help maintain the good relationship that the Greenport and Shelter Island kids have enjoyed.