Amanda Rooney, of Hicksville, scored in the first half and Gina DiMartino, of Massapequa, added an insurance goal late in the match to lead the Long Island Fury to a 2-0 victory over FC LVU Lady Sonic in a Women’s Premier Soccer League match at New York Tech recently.
The win boosted the Fury to 3-0 and nine points and into a tie with BuxMont Torch FC for the Tri State Division lead. Lady Sonic (six), which hails from the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, fell to 2-2.
Despite remaining undefeated, Fury coach Paul Riley felt there certainly was room for improvement.
“Just a little bit disappointed with the way we played,” Riley said. “I don’t think it was one of our better games. We lacked a little bit of pace today, a little bit of purpose. I thought we made the tempo of the game too slow. When you make the tempo of the game too slow, you bring the other team into it and that’s what we did. They started believing that could get something out of the game midway through the second half. We got a bit lax, a little lackadaisical. We were slow to the ball in the second half. You never know, that one mental error in the back and all of a sudden it’s 1-1.”
Rooney gave the Fury all the scoring it needed in the 21st minute. Devin Prendergast hooked a corner kick from the right side into the penalty area and Rooney headed it home at the far left point for a 1-0 lead.
“It was a great header,” Riley said.
With time running out, DiMartino fired in a 35-yard blast from the left side past the goalkeeper.
“Gina was the best player on the field today by a country mile,” Riley said. “The second goal obviously sealed it. It was a great goal, taken really well.”
DiMartino played for Riley on the Philadelphia Independence in the defunct Women’s Professional Soccer.
“I was actually busting her horns a little bit because in Philadelphia she never shot the ball and they we come back here and she scores a goal from 35 yards, Riley said with a laugh. “I don’t think she ever shot from 20 in Philadelphia.
“It’s good for the younger ones to play with a player like Gina. They see how clever she is, how smart she is. I don’t think she broke a sweat. She strolled on the field, probably had 500 touches and didn’t break a sweat. It was effortless for her today. That’s the type of player she is. Last week she was the best player on the field as well.”
Brittany Anghel recorded the Fury’s second shutout of the young season. Long Island has given up only one goal in three games.
Long Island Fury is scheduled to play New York Athletic Club at New York Tech on Sunday, July 7 at 5 p.m. And then the team will play New Jersey Blaze at FDU Fordham on Wednesday, July 10 at 7 p.m. For information visit http://www.lifurysoccer.com/.
