Long Island City girls soccer coach Mark Skorupski ran on the field nearly as much as his players during Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Forest Hills.
With three LIC players injured during the game, including junior forward Alison Dowdle, last season’s division-leading scorer, Skorupski was constantly tending to his players on the field, something he’s grown used to doing this season.
Heading into the match — a Queens A-V showdown played at St. Michael’s Playground in Woodside, Queens — LIC was already without star wing Stephanie Escala after she rolled her left ankle in practice. The Bull-Dogs also played without starting goalie Kaitlyn Kripfgans, who may be out for the season after fracturing her ankle in tryouts back in June, and Diana Rodriguez, also out with an ankle injury.
Still, the Bull-Dogs didn’t shy away from the challenge on Tuesday, getting the game’s only goal from versatile junior Karen Amaya in the 23rd minute — just a minute after Dowdle left the game — on a pretty cross from Geraldine Huisa.
“We had to really step up today, even though we didn’t have some of our better players,” Amaya said.
Added Jasmine Penuela, who helped out goalie Jan Powell with several nice defensive plays in front of the net: “No matter how many players get injured, one player isn’t the whole team.”
LIC (2-0) was able to shut down Forest Hills’ high-scoring Jackelin Brito, who entered Tuesday’s game tied for the city lead in scoring with four goals, all of them coming in Friday’s 4-2 win over Townsend Harris.
The Bull-Dogs claimed sole possession of first place in the division with the win and will now hold their breath that Dowdle’s injury isn’t serious. Skorupski said the player’s mother took her to get X-rays after the game.
The other players who limped off the pitch for LIC were Andrea Giron, who sprained her ankle in the 55th minute, and Vanessa Perez, who injured her knee in the 65th minute.
The Bull-Dogs will play their entire home schedule at St. Michael’s Playground because the school’s home field is unfit to play on with a “torn” carpet, said Skorupski, who emphasized that he was proud of team’s effort against rival Forest Hills.
“Those players left everything on the field today,” said Skorupski, who went undefeated in the division last season. “We had some chances to score. It would have been a different game with those players healthy. But this was great practice for learning how to play and cope with this type of situation.”
