Sklar, Friedman lead Friends' victory
Friends Academy #4 Chloe Friedman, right, heads downfield as Great Neck South High School #18 Ally Farishian gives chase in the second half. (Oct. 4, 2011) Credit: James Escher
First Erica Sklar scored. Then Chloe Friedman scored. Friedman again. And Friedman once more. Then Sklar. And Sklar . . . Ah, you get the picture.
Can't keep a good team down for too long. And the same can be said for good scorers. Behind a barrage of goals from those firing forwards -- three each -- Friends Academy beat Great Neck South, 6-0, Tuesday in Nassau Conference II field hockey.
It was a breakthrough in every sense. The Quakers had scored multiple goals in a game just once this year -- they managed three in a 1:19 span in the second half. They also hadn't gotten a win yet this season. Yeah, you read right: Friends, the six-time defending Nassau Class C champion, earned its first win, improving to 1-5.
"It's a young team; almost half of our starting lineup is new," said Savannah Febesh, a senior. She helped spark the offense with two assists. "We're learning as we go and it takes time to jell."
Add to it, they opened the season facing five of the county's top teams. And they've gone about it without their leading scorer of the previous two years, Bridie Gahan, who had hip surgery.
Yesterday, though: What scoring issues? Sklar got them on the board at 19:49 of the first half, tapping in a long pass from Febesh. Friedman, off a feed from Sklar, made it 2-0 at 11:44. And so it continued.
"It was exciting," said Friedman, a sophomore who enjoyed her first hat trick. "I think the losses brought us together in a way and we've learned from them . . . Today, our communication and positioning was better."
Alexa Landow had two assists, and Charlotte Gelfand and Casey Quinn each made two saves in the shutout. Brittany John had 13 saves for Great Neck South (1-5-1).
Friends' defense, led by Jalisa Clark, also dominated, seldom allowing the Rebels to breach their scoring circle. The performance was encouraging, said Quakers coach Christine Botti, promising "everything will be in place by the end of the season."
"Getting a win, I think, will make us work even harder," Sklar said. "This was a confidence boost and we needed it."
