By Dylan Butler
It was almost like a reoccurring bad dream for Kathryn Dubowski, a junior striker on the Townsend Harris girls’ soccer team. Ahead of her, the ball and yards of open space without a defender in front of her.
Her teammates on the bench start to scream in anticipation of a possible breakaway. And then, just like that, it’s gone. Poof.
Either Susan Wagner defenders catch up with the Hawks leading scorer or the referee lifts his flag indicating offside.
That was the constant frustration for No. 10 Townsend Harris in a 2-0 first-round playoff loss at seventh-seeded Susan Wagner Thursday.
“We’ve been working on that all year long,” Wagner coach Carleen Rago said of her team’s offside trap. “It’s been our bread and butter.”
Wagner (14-6, 13-6) jumped ahead 1-0 in the 28th minute. Falcons leading scorer Danielle Narwick dribbled down the left side but had the ball taken away by one of two defenders who attacked the play.
The clearing attempt landed on the foot of Cristina Fulgencio, who blasted the ball over Townsend Harris keeper Lauren Porretta from 30 yards out. It was the junior midfielder’s 15th goal of the year.
“As soon as she picked up her head, I knew it was going in,” said Rago, whose team avenged a 4-1 second-round loss last year. “She couldn’t have put it in a better spot.”
Dubowski almost netted the equalizer for Townsend Harris (12-5-3, 11-4-2) in the 53rd minute, but her shot from 20 yards out rang off the far post. Dubowski, who led the Hawks with 17 goals, also had a point-blank shot stopped by Wagner freshman keeper Ashley Narwick, Danielle’s younger sister.
Wagner put the game away in the 62nd minute on one of eight corner kicks. Fulgencio’s corner bounced through a crowd in the box and landed on the right foot of Narwick, who easily one-timed her 27th goal of the year into the net from five yards out to put the Falcons ahead, 2-0.
As if playing Wagner on their home field — Harris’ first venture on artificial turf this season — wasn’t tough enough, the already undermanned team did so nursing several injuries. Topping the list of the walking wounded was junior midfielder Jaclyn Miccio, who suffered a third-degree ankle sprain last month.
“Between the injury and studying for tests, my fitness level is nowhere near where it should be,” said Miccio, who drew a double team every time she touched the ball.
Despite the first-round loss, the Hawks have reason to be optimistic as the team returns 14 of 16 players for next year, including Miccio, who should be one of the top seniors in the city next season.
Cardozo 7, Madison 0. The top-seeded Judges are the lone Queens team still alive in the playoffs, easily defeating 16th-seeded Madison at Queensborough Community College last Thursday. Patricia Sotirakis, Nikki Tzimas and Raquelle Agranoff scored two goals apiece and Carolyn Durniak added another to lead Cardozo (16-0-1), which plays No. 8 Bronx Science, 1-0 winners over ninth-seeded Hunter, Friday. It is a rematch of last year’s quarterfinals, won by Cardozo.
Beacon 3, Bryant 1. Cristin Alfonso Zea tied the game at 1 for No. 11 Bryant (12-5-1, 11-5-1) last Thursday, but sixth-seeded Beacon (16-4, 15-2) scored two unanswered second half goals to put the first-round game away. The Blue Demons advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 3 Tottenville.
Midwood 3, Francis Lewis 0. Second-seeded Midwood scored a pair of first half goals and added an insurance tally in the second half to defeat No. 15 Francis Lewis (8-7-2, 6-7-2) Friday. Amanda Peters, Nora Maloney and Alison McSheehy scored for the Hornets (18-0-2, 16-0-1), who advance to play Wagner in the quarterfinals.
John Adams 4, Campus Magnet 0. Maura Torres netted a hat trick and Marja-Lisa Yee added a goal for Adams (12-1-1 Queens B) Friday. Magnet fell to 4-10-1.
Flushing 5, Van Buren 0. Michelle Lopez scored three goals and Natalie Bravo, Lourdes Minaya scored for Flushing (8-1-5 Queens B). Van Buren drops to 2-11-2.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 143.
