MacArthur's Accordino makes history

After helping lead MacArthur to the Nassau Class A girls’ soccer championship as a junior in the fall of 2019, Alyssa Accordino enjoyed another special moment last Saturday while making school history in the process.
Accordino became the first female athlete to play in a varsity football game for the Generals when she stepped on the field late in the second quarter and drilled an extra-point kick to give them a 19-point halftime lead on the way to a 33-14 Conference II victory over visiting Mepham.
“I’ve been lobbying to kick for three years,” said Accordino, a second-year soccer captain and All-Class defender who’s headed to Kings College to compete at the next level and enroll in its physician assistant program. “I’ve been practicing all month and today was my first football game because I had soccer last week,” she added. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous. Once I kicked the first one, the nerves went away.”
Accordino added two more successful extra-point tries in the second half to complete a strong 3-for-5 performance. The home crowd’s excitement grew with each attempt. “I definitely heard the cheers,” she said. “All of the guys on the team have been so supportive. It’s great to have this opportunity.”
MacArthur head coach Bob Fehrenbach said Accordino approached him for each of the past three years about joining the team as its kicker. “We spoke about it again this year and I told her I’m not recruiting her but to ask her soccer coach [Jamie DeFilippo] if it would be OK with him,” Fehrenbach said. “So the night before we opened practice, I got a call that she was good to join us. She’s a great kid. She’s always smiling and she can really kick.”