Saturday May 6, 2006 - Kaiser Park, Coney Island, BKNY

Final Score - New York Senior Side 12 - Austin Valkyries A 5

With 12 players in MN this weekend with the Eagle and Eagle 'A' squads, NY managed to eek out a win against a very determined Austin Valkyries team... 

Enjoying a real live sunny and beautiful day for a home game (what? no rain?), the warm-ups began with a New York Senior side seeing some new faces in the starting line-up.

ROSTER

1. O'Hare
2. Audage
3. Lake
4. Flynn (ii)
5. Epstein (iv)
6. Rubenstein
7. Hill (i)
8. Brethel
9. Litt (iii)
10. Kuchar
11. Mogro
12. Bussman
13. Tyshawn
14. MacGowan
15. Flateman

SUBS

Paddock (ii - to 8, Brethel to lock)
Gentile-Miserandino (iv - to wing, Price to flanker, Paddock to lock)
Price (iii - to wing, Mogro to scrumhalf)
Luttrell
Bounds
Jennings (i - blood sub [twice])
Goodberry
Novik
Ewing
Junquera
Stevenson
Hobbs
Leveque

Austin is a team that has come a very long way in the past couple years, 1st in the West and most recently ranking 9th after the 2005 National Championships. We knew they would be tough opponents on any weekend, and New York would have to come out firing.

1^st Half

The first 20+ minutes was all about a match-up which would showcase smothering defense and a strong attack off the breakdown - unfortunately it was Austin and not New York who got the upper hand. Austin scored first in the 27th minute after several phases of relentless forward pressure when their #9 was able to dive over for the try. They did not convert, leaving the score at Austin 5 - NY 0. New York continued to have difficulty playing to the game plan, but thanks to a great breakaway try from center Tyshawn Henry in the 38th minute, plus a conversion from Jenny Kuchar, the score was brought to NY 7 - Austin 5 at the half.

2^nd Half

The second half saw a great adjustment from the whole New York team which swung the game...the pack began clearing together and putting the pressure right back at the visiting team and the backs, given cleaner ball to work with, strung together some pretty pieces of play. The final try to put the game's result to bed came from fullback Jenna Flateman - Final score: NY 12 - Austin 5