By Yeiden Nieves and Logan Mullarkey – Advocate Editors

Jonathan Law fell to rival Foran at home in the annual Powderpuff game on November 25 by a final score of 14-7.  

Law fought a tough, rainy defensive battle led by captains Avery Moulton, Alani Velez, Abigail Merenda, Charlotte Doyle, Layla Alogna, and Fiorella Gargiulo. 

“My goal as captain was to make sure everyone was comfortable,” Velez said. “This was especially important on defense because most of our defense consisted of juniors. I hoped to believe that I gave them a safe space to go to when players had questions regarding the game and outside of the game.”

Law scored late in the fourth quarter, with the lone score coming from senior captain Fiorella Gargiulo. The defense held strong the entire game to limit the Lions to only two touchdowns scored.

“Knowing how close the game was, I kept the defense compact and reminded them about how important their positions are,” Moulton said. “Every huddle, I would say something encouraging to keep them in the right headspace, and every good play, I would give them a compliment.”

Previously, the Lawmen had a two-game win streak against Foran. With the streak snapped this year, the battle to retire the trophy continues to rage on.

“We gave it our all on defense throughout the whole game,” Merenda said. “From the beginning of the game to the whole end, I feel like we persevered and played a strong game.”

The previous Head coach, Mr. O’Reilly, did not return this year. Stepping up in his place, English teacher Mr. Nigretti knew the game would not be an easy victory, and thus spent much time practicing to teach the girls the game and their positions.

“Preparation is key, and we only have under three weeks to do it,” Nigretti said. “To maximize the time, having six day practices is essential. I would say that we have had meetings with defensive and offensive players throughout our time together and that is to make sure our girls get the best out of every practice. The coaches group chat was ‘blowing up’ from day one, keeping all coaches on the same page and offering insights about adjustments that we could make. Every year is a different team, and we need to run an offensive and defensive that is conducive to their skill sets. Finally, talking to Coach Kulenych, preparing for next year literally started right after the game. All in all, it is a grind, but every second is worth it because it means so much to the girls. With the amount of effort and dedication these girls invest in the ‘season,’ we owe it to them to be the best possible coaches.”

The juniors, eager for revenge, will never forget this game and are prepared to work hard for next year’s game.

“Advice I would give is don’t let your knowledge of the game discourage you from playing,” junior Talia Hagan said. “The coaches are really good at easily allowing you to understand quickly, and it’s a really fun experience to have.”

Kulenych said that while the result of the game wasn’t what the team had hoped for, he was proud of the way the girls fought through tough conditions.

“We were up against tough competition from Foran and from Mother Nature, but the girls battled the whole game and had a chance late in the fourth quarter,” Kulenych said. “Our message to the girls after was that they should be proud of their effort and proud of the journey they took to learn football in two and half weeks. We had a lot of juniors on this year’s team and the goal is that they use this as motivation to come back and get a win next year.”

The game was followed up with the annual Thanksgiving Day football game, where the Law football team won 33-6 over Foran.