July 11, 2009, Garden City, NY-The Long Island Fury defeated the SoccerPlus Connecticut Reds, 3-1, tonight to clinch first place in the Eastern Conference of the Women's Premier Soccer League. The Fury will host a first round playoff match next Sunday, July 19 at 5 pm at Adelphi University's Competition Field. The opponent will be determined after Eastern Conference play concludes this weekend.

As the game began tonight under cool, overcast skies at Adelphi, both teams needed to win. The Fury needed to win to clinch first place while the Reds needed a victory for the possibility of making the playoffs.

The Fury decided to play with a stiff wind in the first half facing Long Island goalkeeper Jillian Mastroianni of Durham, Connecticut, playing against the one WPSL from her home state. The Reds' Becky Ryan looped a 10-yard shot from a tight angle over the head of Mastroianni in the 26th minute to give Connecticut the lead. Catherine Nathans getting the assist on the goal. The teams entered the locker rooms at halftime with the Reds leading 1-0.

"I laced into the team at halftime like I haven't done in three years because how they were playing was just unacceptable," commented Fury head coach Paul Riley. "I said to them that people are paying good money to watch this?"

But the question facing the home supporters was where were the Fury goals going to come from with leading scorer Vicki DiMartino playing with the United States Under 20 National Team?

"Our leadership got us going in the second half with Kelly Henderson and Alyssa Pember. I thought that Jasmyne Spencer, Alaina Beyar and Molly Bruh were awesome. Cari Roccaro was all over the field applying pressure," Coach Riley stated.

A Fury-ous assault upon the Reds' goal kicked off the second half and continued until just a few minutes were left. South Hempstead's Beyar got on the board in the 49th minute with a 10-yard shot off a flick pass from Bay Shore's Spencer, which came from a Roccaro cross.

The Fury took the lead in the 67th minute with a 15-yard blast from Baldwin's Henderson off a Beyar assist. A 10-yard Roccaro shot in the 81st minute from a Beyar assist was the insurance goal.

The offensive MVP of the game was 14-year-old Roccaro while the defensive MVP was Northport's Pember. Mastroianni made two saves while her counterpart for Connecticut, Katie DiDio, made 10 saves. The Fury had a 26-7 advantage in shots and 9-5 advantage in corner kicks.

The Fury finish the regular season undefeated at 9-0-1 while the Reds drop to 3-6-1.