Bruno, McTiernan, Trojans make statement

Call it Garden City's "We mean business" score: 5-0. It was last year when it beat Ward Melville, then considered the team most capable of dealing the Trojans a loss. And it was again Friday against Cold Spring Harbor, their most competitive foe the last two seasons.

The Trojans are 9-0-1, but it was Cold Spring Harbor (8-2-1) that added the extra hyphen to their record, playing the Trojans to a tie at 1 on Sept. 16. That was the teams' second 1-1 tie in their last three meetings -- the "tiebreaker" being Garden City's 2-1 win in last year's Nassau Class B semifinals.

For perspective: Garden City, in that span, has outscored all other opponents 132-8. But the Seahawks? "They're a tough, aggressive team and they go hard," Trojans coach Diane Chapman said. "They make it difficult to execute."

Then 5-0 happened.

"We had to come out strong and set the tone early," said Alexandra Bruno, who scored twice. "This was probably our best win of the season thus far."

Catherine McTiernan got them on the board 4:37 in, Bruno's goals made it 3-0 before halftime, and Charlotte Castronovo scored twice in the second half before the contest was called for lightning with 9:28 remaining.

Seahawks coach Danielle Skakandi said her team came out "flat" and considered the performance an aberration.

For the Trojans, though: "We wanted to show what we're capable of," McTiernan said. "Especially since we might see them in the playoffs."

They mean business.