Rough Riders Men Win, Clinch Playoff Spot

Official Press Release (Long Island Rough Riders)


South Huntington, N.Y. (July 8, 2009) – The Long Island Rough Riders men’s team defeated the Brooklyn Knights 1-0, clinching a playoff berth for the first time since 2003. In the opening game of the doubleheader, the Rough Riders women’s team fell to Hudson Valley 4-2.

The Rough Riders men’s team (11-2-1, 34 pts.) headed into their local derby with Brooklyn (6-4-3, 21 pts.) knowing that a draw would be good enough to qualify for the playoffs. The match seemed to be heading to a stalemate until Mike Todd broke the deadlock in the 84th minute, taking a pass from Pav Castaneda and firing home a 25 yard shot past Knights goalkeeper Chris Antonino for his fifth goal of the year.

Injury time proved to be as exciting as the entire 90 minutes as Brooklyn pressed forward looking for the equalizer. It was Rough Riders goalkeeper Hasely Thorne who saved the day with two outstanding stops to preserve the victory. Thorne stretched to his left and denied a free kick opportunity from going in with his fingertips and moments later dove to his right, saving a one timer from Antonino who had been brought forward by Brooklyn in a last ditch effort to score.

The victory puts the Rough Riders men back into sole-possession of first place in the Northeast Division, three points ahead of the Ottawa Fury with two games to go. The 2009 PDL playoffs will begin the week of July 19th with pairings still to be determined.

Earlier in the evening, the Rough Riders women’s team (5-6-1, 16 pts.) fell to the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 4-2.

Kelly McConnell got the Rough Riders on the board early taking advantage of a misplayed ball by Lady Blues (9-0-1, 28 pts.) goalkeeper Ashley Thompson and tapped the ball into the empty net.

Twenty minutes later the Rough Riders took a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to some nifty footwork by McConnell along the left side of the field getting passed two Hudson Valley defenders and sliding a ball to Leigh-Anne Cummings who scored her sixth goal of the season.

Before the half, Hudson Valley was able to tie the game after goals from Elise Fugowski and Ashleigh Gunning, who’s shot rang off the crossbar and off Rough Riders goalkeeper Brittany Henderson moments before the end of the first half.

Ten minutes into the second half, the Lady Blues took the lead for good when Kristin Edmonds shot avoided the outstretched hands of Henderson into the top corner. Angelika Johansson would add an insurance goal in the 83rd minute.

The Rough Riders women will finish their 2009 W-League home schedule on Saturday, July 11th when they host the New York Magic at 6PM. The men will play their final home regular season game on Wednesday, July 15th against the Westchester Flames at 7PM. Any fans under the age of 14 who come to either game wearing a soccer jersey will receive free entry. Both games will be played at Cy Donnelly Stadium at St. Anthony’s High School in South Huntington. To purchase tickets, please call (516) 622-3900 or visit www.liroughriders.com