Lady Cougars Volleyball are IPPSAL runners up

The top seeded Lady Cougars dropped a tough match to Kew Forest, 2-1, to finish as the runner up of the IPPSAL league.

After a delayed start the Lady Cougars took the court at the Upper Room Christian. They came out and fought hard, but squandered some opportunities. The Lady Cougars dropped a close one by a score of 25-21.

The Lady Cougars regrouped and came out firing in the second match. They were not only able to steal the momentum from Kew Forest, but able to beat them handily by a score of 25-21.

"They came on strong," said head coach Ann Boyle.

The match and the season came down to an all important third set. These two teams could not have been more evenly matched. They split the season series 1-1 and finished as the top 2 seeds in the IPPSAL league. Rightfully so, the match would be tied at one set a piece and come down to one pivotal set.

The Lady Cougars fought hard but ran out of steam. They dropped the set 25-6, but should hold their heads up high.

"There were a number of outstanding plays made and all can be proud," Boyle said emphasizing the words all and proud. "The spirit was terrific."

The Lady Cougars will say goodbye to three seniors.

"We bid farewell to seniors Alicia Adjodia, Xena Anderson and Franchon Martinez," said Boyle. "Thanks to them for their time and energy. They will be missed and we have been blessed by their many talents on and off the court."

The Lady Cougars have 15 returning players next season and will look to build off of this season.

"They have gained a wealth of knowledge, understanding and experience of this game and have much to look forward to," said Boyle.

Boyle also thanks assistant coach Ms. Cancemi for her energy, support and the positive impact she has had on this team. "A job well done," she said.

Lastly, Boyle wants to thank anyone else that impacted this team in a positive way.

"Many thanks to all who supported the ladies and adding success to our season," she said.

By: Michael Florio

Cougar Running is Back!

The Martin Luther cross-country team won the IPPSAL Championship yesterday, October 23. It was the first time they have won it in four years.

The Individual Private and Parochial Schools Athletic League used to be dominated by the Cougars until recently. Head Coach Ken Johnson has dedicated so much time and energy to building the program back up to what it was.

This year, he knew what his guys were capable of and so he told them before the race “We’re taking no prisoners today, Lets go all out and win this thing.”

Johnson commented “And that’s exactly what they did. Right from the start they went flying out there and it was done. ”

To say they did well would be an understatement. The boys dominated the competition. With seven out of the top nine, they brought the IPPSAL trophy back to Martin Luther.

Captain of the team, Thomas Mcloughlin commented on the race, “ We stuck together as a team for almost the whole race pushing each other knowing what had to be done and working for it”

Mclouglin came in first in the race followed by Tyler Feconsolo, Devin Barrios, and Nate Glossen. A runner from Lawrence Woodmere finished in fifth followed by Grant …… followed by a runner from Long Island Lutheran. John Lawrence and Jeremiah… were eight and nine.

Mcloughlin added, “Today took a team effort and our cards fell into place towards the end.”

The next challenge for the cross-country team will be to bring the PSAA title back to Martin Luther. That race is at Van Cortland Park , always a challenging place to run.

Coach Johnson commented, “We have a lot of young guys who have not even seen Van Cortland, so they are definitely in for a fun surprise.”

Right now Coach is happy for what his team has accomplished. IPPSAL was the first step to bringing about another dominant era of Martin Luther running.

By: Aaron Maldonado

Lady Cougars Volleyball team advance to IPPSAL championship

The Lady Cougars volleyball team advanced to the IPPSAL championship by winning yesterdays match 25-16 and 25-13.

The Lady Cougars were driven by Leslly Marmolejo who led all scorers with 17 points on serve. Behind her strong serves the Lady Cougars were able to take commanding leads.

Xena Anderson and Katelyn Velez displayed great teamwork and lead the Lady Cougars in hits. Frenchon Martinez led the Lady Cougars in sets.

Emmie Schulze, Emily Fricano and Briana Salas all passed well and helped lead the Lady Cougars to victory.

The Lady Cougars now advanced to the IPPSAL championship, which will take place Wednesday, at 5:30, at the Upper Christian Room. The team is expecting to play against Kew Forest, but waiting to hear for sure.

If they do face Kew Forest, it will be a match up between the top two seeds in the league. The teams split the season series 1-1, with Kew Forest defeating the Lady Cougars at Martin Luther just last week. The Lady Cougars still finished the year as the top seed, having clinched it before the match up with Kew Forest.

"The team is excited (expecting to play Kew Forest)," said head coach Ann Boyle. "From the first point they have to be strong and assert themselves. They will do their best and hopefully end the season with phenomenal play!"

By: Michael Florio

Martin Luther Walk-A-Thon

Martin Luther held its annual walk-a-thon on Friday, October 18 and it was an awesome success.

With much inspiration from the one and only ‘Walk-A-Thon Man’, the students were fired up to help in the one way they could…by walking. Oh and walk they most certainly did.

This year’s route took them up Grand Avenue up to the 69^th place over the Long Island Expressway. They stopped to take a picture next to Maspeth Federal Savings Bank, with the beautiful New York City skyline in the background. They then walked down the service road to Maurice Park. They walked around the park and then back up over the LIE up the hill back to school.

The weather was perfect for the event and an estimation of four miles was said to be the total for the day.

The school raised over $7,000 and had a participation of over 85 percent from the students.

The funds will be divided equally into each class to save and put towards class trips, proms, etc. 10 percent of the money will go towards a charity group of the schools choosing.

A special thanks was given to Mr. and Mrs. Burke, parents of two Martin Luther alumni and long-time volunteers for the Walk-A-Thon.

The students and faculty all had a blast as they walked (and danced) the day away.

‘Captain LazyPants’ would be silly to try to come anywhere near Martin Luther School again…or at least for one more year.

By: Aaron Maldonado

Cougars Soccer defeats Kew Forest

The Martin Luther School Cougars’ soccer team defeated Kew Forest by the final score of 3-2 at the Metropolitan Oval on Friday October 18.

CHECK OUT THE HIGHLIGHTS HERE

 This was the final regular season game for the team so it was important to get this victory heading into the playoffs next week.

Junior Jae Kim scored the first goal of the game on an assist from Senior, Alex Ortiz.

The Cougars never trailed in this game, but it was certainly not their most dominant performance. Kew Forest started the game hard and never let up. Maybe they had heard about the Martin Luther Walk-a-thon earlier and were trying to take advantage of the Cougars’ tired legs.

A few key miscues by Kew Forest on the offensive side of the ball really hurt them.

Juniors Tyshawn Parker and Franco Libiano kept up with Kew Forest and took advantage on those mistakes and kept pushing the ball back up the field.

Junior Jae Kim is coming off an impressive game in which he had a hat trick. And he followed that up with two more goals in Fridays contest. Kim overcame a leg injury in the first half to lead the Cougars to this victory. Even when teams take someone out of their position to focus solely on playing defense on him, he still manages a way to score.

Martin Luther is feeling good right now and has high hopes to repeat as PSAA Champions.  

Head Coach Matt Moran commented after the game, “I’m happy we won, but I wasn’t pleased. It wasn’t a complete game. There were times we looked really sharp and there were times where we just lost our focus.”

He also commented on the roster heading forward, “We’re getting better, especially since we lost a lot of our team to grades and so a lot of other guys stepped in and still getting accustomed to playing”

Coach Moran will have one more practice before their playoff game and he wants to stress a more positive attitude. The team has gained a lot of experience over the season and now it will come down to mental toughness.

The Cougars next home match, the first playoff game, will be Tuesday October 22 at the Metropolitan Oval. Come out and support the Cougars!

By: Aaron Maldonado

Lady Cougars volleyball team crowned regular season IPPSAL champs despite loss

The Lady Cougars volleyball hosted Kew Forest on Thursday in a meeting between the top two seeds in the IPPSAL league. The Lady Cougars having beat Kew Forest last week, came into the match with a 7-0 league record and already clinched the top seed making them regular season champs.

After dropping the first set 25-17, the Lady Cougars looked to come out strong. Kew Forest had other plans as they jumped out to an 8-2 lead. The Lady Cougars struggled commanding their serves early on and despite some impressive rallying, found themselves in a hole.

Kew Forest was serving with the lead. The two teams were locked in a long rally, until Xena Anderson bumped a ball that was too much for Kew Forest to handle, making the score 8-3. Anderson then scored a point on a serve, bringing the score to 8-4.

Kew Forest would regain command but the Lady Cougars battled back behind a big spike from Franchon Martinez and the serving of Dominique Genise. The Lady Cougars brought the score to 11-9, with Kew Forest stepping in to serve.

Kew Forest went on a run behind some very impressive serves. Kew Forest sent up five serves in a row that the Lady Cougars could not return, before coach Ann Boyle was forced to call time out. The streak continued though as a sixth serve hit the ground, pushing the score to 17-9.

The Lady Cougars showed their heart as they refused to quit. The Lady Cougars went on a 8-3 run that brought Kew Forest lead to only 20-17. With the game still up the air, both teams displayed great ability to set their teammates up for big hits and respond to those hits. The teams battled back and forth, until Lindsay Lake made a diving save for the Lady Cougars and Kew Forest could not respond. This gave the point on the most impressive rally of the game to the Lady Cougars. They would score one more point to bring the score to 20-19.

They would never get closer and fell by a final score of 25-21.

"We did not play well today," said Head Coach Ann Boyle. "We certainly need to believe in ourselves and our consistency needs to improve."

The Lady Cougars will be the top seed in the IPPSAL playoffs which begin next Monday. Due to the unavailability of the Martin Luther gym, the Lady Cougars will play in a neutral site game at Lexington, against an opponent still to be determined.

"The question is who we will play in the championship," said the confident Boyle. "Probably [a rematch] against Kew Forest."

By: Michael Florio

Cougars' Soccer hold off Lexington, win 5-4

The Martin Luther School Cougars’ soccer team (5-2 overall, 4-1 in PSAA Div. II) was able to hold onto a close victory by the final score of 5-4 against Lexington at the Metropolitan Oval, Wednesday.

This match truly represented the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Cougars’ soccer team in terms of the halves they played.

The Cougars came out strong early in the game, putting pressure on the Lexington defense, which resulted in success.

Junior Jay Kim definitely ate his Wheaties this morning, putting through two goals early in the contest on assists from both Alex Ortiz and Franco Libano.

Despite having the early lead, the Cougars would not back down in a sport where within a couple of minutes, the whole game can change. Soccer demands teams to keep their foot on the pedal at all times.

In the 31^st minute, Ortiz was able to get behind the defense off of a free kick from Libano and the rest was history. He handled it cleanly, getting past the goalkeeper and knocking it through.

In the 34^th minute, Kim was able to accomplish the feat known as the hat trick as he received a chip pass from Ortiz. Kim simply popped it over the goalkeeper’s head for this third goal of the contest.

Four minutes into the second half and the Cougars were back at again as Senior Jacob Park was able to get in on the action. He knocked in a goal off the assists from whom else, Jay Kim.

Remember what I said about keeping your foot on the pedal in soccer? This is why.

Lexington was able to put through four goals within a twenty minute span as the clock was winding down; most coming as a result of mental errors.

The Cougars had a few missed opportunities as well throughout the second half but sure knew how to make this one interesting. Being able to put the ball over the top and run onside plays a big part in their offensive attack. There were a few very close offside calls that could’ve went either way but were called against Martin Luther.

Martin Luther Coach Matt Moran had a few things he thinks the team could improve on.

“Working together. Stop worrying about things we can’t control like the referee and who we have on the field,” said Coach Moran.

The Cougars next home match will be October 18 at 4 p.m. against Kew Forest at the Metropolitan Oval.

By: Frank Stampfl

Lady Cougars drop tennis match to Solomon Schecter 4-1

The Lady Cougars tennis team took on Solomon Schecter on Tuesday at Juniper Valley Park.

Highlights can be viewed here.

The Lady Cougars showed improvement, but still fell to Schecter 4-1.

The lone win for the Lady Cougars came in the third singles match that saw Vicky Yang win the match 8:4. It was a back and forth match that saw some great serves and back and forth rallies. Yang was able to take advantage of her strong serving and outlast Mariella from Schecter.

“She [Yang] won and that’s very impressive,” said Head Coach Leslie Aguirre. “She was doing great.”

The second doubles match was a nail bitter as Alain Goulbourne and Melva Toasa gave Schecter’s team all they could handle. It was a back and forth match and serving was key. Both teams had trouble handling the serves, but ultimately the Lady Cougars had all they could handle and dropped the match by a score of 6:8.

“In our second doubles they had good rallying and serving,” said Aguirre.

Dominique Bratton battled hard and had some of the most impressive rallies of the day in the first singles match. Despite the strong rallying Bratton dropped the match 1:8.

“I did notice that she wasn’t playing to the best of her effort,” said Aguirre.

The other matches saw Lauren Coyle fall in the second singles match by a score of 2:8. Toya Brown and Mia Gonzalez dropped the first doubles match by a score of 0:8.

Aguirre was pleased with her teams performance, but believes there is plenty of room for improvement.

 

“Serving is the number one thing we need to improve on,” she said.

The Lady Cougars will be back in action next Monday when they take on Long Island Lutheran at Juniper Valley Park at 4 p.m.

By: Michael Florio

Lady Cougars Defeat Heschell School

The Lady Cougars took on the girls from Abraham Joshua Heschel School and handled them in two sets of 25-14 and 25-19.

CHECK OUT HIGHLIGHTS HERE

In the first set, Heschel jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but that was as far as they got from Martin Luther. Senior, Franchon Martinez helped tie the score at 5 and then the two teams went back and forth for a while.

Later in the set, Junior, Katelyn Velez went on a strong run with her serves helping the Lady Cougars build their own lead.

Senior, Xena Anderson continues to lead the girls and keep them focused on the court. Her four years of experience will be key going forward.

Junior, Leslly Marmolejo was one girl who looked as if the long weekend hadn’t phased her. Throughout both sets, she displayed great hustle making strong serves and some diving plays to save a rally.

They started off the day a bit slow, trailing in the start of both sets. Some of the serves were not strong and going into the playoffs it was important that the girls overcame that and pulled out strong victories.

The girls did pull it together and showed good resolve with unbelievable rallies throughout the afternoon.

Head Coach, Ann Boyle commented after the game, “We were a little sluggish today because of the fact that we had the holiday weekend, so we had the couple of days we weren’t touching the ball so it was a little apparent today.”

Martin Luther plays their next game on Thursday at home at 4:00 against Kew Forest. It will be their final home game of the season.

By: Aaron Maldonado