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New York Magic Press Release - www.nymagicsoccer.com

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

NEW YORK, NY – Don’t try and convince New York Magic Head Coach Bobby Czumak that defense does not win games. Czumak, coach of the U17 New York Magic, has guided his team to its second straight appearance in the Super Y-League North American Finals held annually in Tampa, Florida during November. In the past two seasons the Magic have gone undefeated through 19 games. They finished the 2007 regular season with a mark of 7-0-3 and followed that by going 7-0-2 in 2008.

“We have been extremely fortunate to have several very fine forwards playing for us the last two years,” said Czumak. “Brooke [Bandazian], Amy [Van Dyk] and Nicole [Landes] have done an outstanding job against some very good teams.”

Bandazian and Amy Van Dyk come to the Magic from perennial New Jersey powerhouse Ramapo High School. Landes hails from North Rockland High School in New York.

“We also have had very solid midfield play from Brittany Egan (Pearl River High School, NY), Ari Ackerman (River Dell High School, NJ) and Karen Schoepflin (Indian Hills High School, NJ),” added Czumak.

Still, the backbone of Czumak’s Magic teams during this run has been his rock solid defense.
“In past years, we hoped to outscore our opponents using a variety of strikers and a high-pressure offense,” said Czumak. “Sometimes it worked and many times it didn’t. In 2007, we made some strategic changes to solidify our defense and the results have been amazing.”

At the core of Czumak’s defense is Ramapo High School goalkeeper, Caroline Shiel. Starting every match during the 2007 and 2008 Super Y-League season, Shiel has amassed 11 shutouts and an amazing 0.53 goals against average against some of the top scorers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Another source of defensive prowess comes from converted striker Whitney Frary of Niskayuna High School in New York and converted midfielders Carty Collins of Monroe-Woodbury High School in New York and Leah Taylor of North Highlands High School in New Jersey. All three former offensive minded players bought into Czumak’s system and joined the defensive ranks.

“Whitney, Taylor and Leah have brought solid foot skills and crisp passing back on defense,” said Czumak. “It has made a huge difference in our team as a whole. We can now score two or three goals against very good teams and feel confident that our defense will shut down our defensive third and make that lead stand up.”

The New York Magic U17 girls will compete in the 10th annual USL Super Y-League North American Finals being held Friday, November 21 through Tuesday, November 25 in Tampa, Florida. Teams from Canada and the United States will square off in group play matches the first three days of the competition.

The Magic were seeded as the number one team in the Mid Atlantic Division and will play out of Group A. Group A is also occupied by the Southeast Division Champion, RSL Florida and a pair of second-place finishers in their region: the Cal Odyssey of Northern California and the Cleveland Internationals from the Midwest Division.

“We are very fortunate to be affiliated with such a fine organization, the New York Magic,” said Czumak. “We appreciate the support and involvement of Nino DePasquali [Head Coach of the W-League New York Magic] and Lyndelle Phillips [President of the Magic]. We look forward to representing the Magic at the Super Y-League North American Finals this year.”