Fitzpatrick's corner kicks boost Division

Krista Fitzpatrick is at her best when she is barely on the field. This is not to discredit the Division senior, quite the contrary. Fitzpatrick is masterful at corner kicks, launching balls from less than a square yard of space to her teammates, who head or kick the ball into the back of the net.

Fitzpatrick, who leads Long Island in assists (11), was masterful Monday as her corner kicks led to both of Division's goals in a 2-0 win over South Side in a matchup between the top two teams in Nassau Conference A-I girls soccer at Skelos Field.

"We finished on our corner kicks," Fitzpatrick said. "I can strike a ball well and we can finish, so it works well."

Fitzpatrick got her first opportunity at a corner kick in the 15th minute. After her first attempt was knocked away by a South Side defender, she found the head of Alexa Schneider, who scored her fourth goal of the season.

"When Krista has corners, she and I usually work off each other," Schneider said. "She's usually aiming for my head. I kind of know where most of her kicks are going and I just run and head it."

Fitzpatrick launched a corner kick that deflected off a South Side defender before Maggie Carew kicked it in to give Division a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

Division coach Steve Kissane estimated 80 percent of his team's goals have come off corner kicks and attributes the success to Fitzpatrick's kicking ability and his players literally and figuratively using their heads.

SEE PHOTOSDivision 2, South Side 0

"We have a couple of girls who are willing to head the ball," Kissane said. "That's not always the case. A lot of girls shy away from it. They try to chest it or wait for it to come down to the ground. Our guys will run right through with their heads, which is great."

Division (6-0) played strong defensively in the second half and Gina Fader made five saves in her fifth shutout of the season.

Kelsey Berki made three saves for South Side (5-1).