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Staying in the playoff race: Cardozo boots Flushing

By Mitch Abramson

Benjamin Cardozo’s keeper, Nicole Mcclure, watched a good game on Monday. Fighting for a playoff spot, the Judges scored five goals in the first half and only once allowed Mcclure to put her hands on the ball in a 6-0 pasting of Flushing (3-11-1, Queens A) at Flushing Memorial Field.

Mcclure seldom budged from her spot at the top of the 18-yard box and with her hands by her sides and her stationary position, the freshman resembled a hood ornament. The win earned Cardozo, 8-8 in Queens A, a pass into the playoffs or at least a game with the other .500 teams to decide who gets in. The PSAL will release the seeds on Monday.

Before the season began, Cardozo coach Richard Parascos knew the team would struggle to reach the postseason. Last year he had 12 seniors pointing the way and the Judges reached the quarterfinals, where they lost to Midwood. This season he has only four seniors, but Parascos, once hesitant about his team’s chances, is now singing their praises.

“The season’s been wonderful,” he said. “It’s been great watching this team progress and learn. I knew it would be a tough season because I thought we had only five or six players who could really play. But we’re peaking at just the right time, and I feel like anything can happen in the playoffs.”

Cardozo is profiting from a starting lineup that has just one senior in Cathy Yim and allows younger players like freshman Katie Mermelstein and sophomore Nicolin Coppola to flourish in a more relaxed atmosphere. In the sixth minute, Mermelstein took a pass from Coppola, weaved around several defenders like she was doing a cone drill and set loose a shot from 10 yards out that swept the upper left corner of the net for a 1-0 lead.

Eight minutes later, Mermelstein ricocheted a ball off a defender and Diana Benavides took the rebound and quickly booted the ball in between a cluster of players for a 2-0 lead. The goal happened so quickly that it caught a few of her teammates off guard, and some of them did a double take to make sure the ball went in the net. Mermelstein scored her second goal in the 24th minute on a shot from 20 yards out to go up 3-0, and the rout was on.

“We definitely didn’t do our homework for this game,” said Manpreet Singh, Flushing’s second-year coach and a 24-year-old master’s student from Queens College. “Because of exams and scheduling, we haven’t practiced in two weeks, and we weren’t as prepared as we should have been. This season has been a learning experience for myself and the players. Cardozo’s skill level was just superior to ours today.”

The Judges went up 4-0 on a cross from Coppola to Yim, who tapped in a goal from five yards out in the 26th minute. Six minutes later, Coppola, a resident of College Point, recorded her third assist on a left side corner kick to Joan Tymon to go up 5-0.

Yim’s second goal in the 50th minute sealed the deal and assured Cardozo a stake in the playoff hunt.

“When the season began, I was kind of panicking a little bit,” Coppola said. “But we worked hard and lucked out because a lot of these girls can play and now we’re in the playoffs. Now we get a fresh start, and we can go for if we work hard together.”

Reach reporter Mitch Abramson by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.