By Mitch Abramson
In a span of two games beginning on April 5 against Arts & Business, Sprance saw four girls taken to the hospital, two with broken arms, one because of a seizure and another as a result of hyperventilation. Then on Monday in a 2-0 loss to Long Island City, senior midfielder Grace Kim left the game with severe shin splints in the first half. An ambulance arrived for treatment but Kim's mother refused medical attention, according to Sprance, and she left the game in their car.”In 25 years of coaching soccer, I have never seen anything like this,” said Sprance, who has lost seven starters to injuries since the start of the season. “If we ever get any of our players back, we could really make a run because we have a good team this year. We beat Long Island City 2-0 earlier in the season.”Forest Hills goalkeeper Luisa Betancourt suffered a seizure after the 5-0 loss to Arts & Business. The episode occurred on the car ride home, and she was immediately driven to the hospital. The next morning she relapsed and suffered another seizure at school. Junior midfielder Kathy Cuequanas added to the list of injuries when she hyperventilated during the contest against Arts & Business. Forest Hills' run of bad luck continued on April 7 when high scoring freshman Alex Mitic fell and injured her wrist. Mitic stayed in the game – a 2-0 loss to Wagner – but bumped into another player during a scramble for the ball and fractured her elbow. Rounding out the players on the injured reserve, senior midfielder Melissa Janjic broke her arm in one of the most bizarre starts of the season in the PSAL. Forest Hills is 2-3 in Queens II-B and trails first place Arts & Business by 6 points.”It's like one thing after another,” Sprance said. “It's gotta stop.”Long Island City (3-2) exploited Forest Hills' lack of depth and received a pair of goals from junior Jessica Restrepo, one on a penalty kick in the 10th minute and the other with 15 minutes remaining in the game, her 8th and 9th goals of the season. The Bulldogs were also aided by Yuri Giraldo's six saves in goal. Springfield Gardens 5, Campus Magnet 0. Michelle Tapper scored 5 goals for Springfield Gardens (3-1 Queens B-III) on Monday at home. Campus Magnet dropped to 0-2-1 in the division. Edison 4, Van Buren 0. Anika Charles scored 3 goals and Carina Edwards scored the other for Edison (5-1, 4-0 Queens B I) on Monday.Bayside 6, Jamaica 0. Zoe Margulies produced a hat trick and Alex Knese scored a goal and an assist on Friday for Bayside (3-0 Queens A).Townsend Harris 2, Cardozo 1. Mariella Romano took a pass from Natalia Guzman and fed the ball to Maria Paschilidis for the Hawks (4-2, 3-1 Queens A) in overtime. Townsend Harris' Diana Kokoszka added six saves on Friday.Newcomers 1, Long Island City 0. Victoria Pizzorno had a goal and Semra Bektesevic made 15 saves for Newcomers (3-1 Queens B-II) last Thursday.Art & Design 7, Frank Sinatra 0. Antaro Garcia scored three goals last Thursday and Amanda Morales and Angie Villmarin scored a goal each for Art & Design (4-0 Queens B-II).Edison 6, Flushing 0. Anika Charles and Carina Edwards each had a hat trick and 1 assist for Edison (5-1, 3-0 Queens B-I) last Thursday.Bayside 8, Newtown 0. Keilai Williams, Zoe Margulies and Ashley Spellman each scored 2 goals for Bayside in a dominating performance last Thursday.Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by E-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300 Ext. 130.
