By:STEVE SINISKI
After finishing just one point shy of first in league play, the Rams were likely to be slated No. 7 in the upcoming Nassau County layoffs with their first game to be played either Oct. 29 or Oct. 30.
The strength of the team is two-fold. Coach Warren Knecht has a solid rotation of players at midfield and forward that he uses interchangeably and it works to Clarke's advantage.
For one, the players gain the experience of learning two positions. It also throws defenses off, because they are unable to mark every Ram capable of filling the nets.
The rotation only got deeper in the final two weeks of the season when Knecht moved goaltender Toby Klein into the mix. She joins Erin Klimkowski, Courtney Lane, Cassie Dolan and Katie Walsh in a potent scoring unit. Klein responded with three goals in the final three games, including a pair in the regular-season finale, a 4-1 victory over Hewlett on Oct. 25.
"We added another [scorer] and defenses can only mark so many players," Knecht said. "If they try to take Erin [Klimkowski] out they still have four others.
"It's hard to rely on only one or two players, so we like to switch. It makes it hard for defenses to adjust because they have to switch [from their strengths]."
Conditioning has had a large role in Clarke's postseason run, and one needs to look no further than the last two games to see why.
The Rams simply wore down Conference III champion New Hyde Park in a 3-2 win on Oct. 22, and Klimkowski netted two of her three goals in the final 10 minutes.
Clarke tallied three after the half in the victory over Hewlett. "We've beaten a lot of teams late in the game," Knecht said. "In the last 20 minutes you could tell New Hyde Park was tired. They scored with 18 minutes left but we kept at it."
Sophomore Marion Livermore took over as the No. 1 goalkeeper once Klein moved to the offensive side of the field and sparkled in her starting role.
She stopped five shots against Hewlett, seven against New Hyde Park and five in a win over Seaford, making a smooth transition to life at the varsity level.
Less than two weeks after moving into the starting lineup, she'll be starting in the postseason. "Her confidence has gone up dramatically," Knecht said. "She's done a lot of training on her own and we've worked with her in practice. With three games to go we decided it was time to put her in."
Sweeper Susie Gumiela continues to anchor a Clarke defense that's limited opponents to one goal or fewer six times, and even broke into the scoring column against Hewlett. Gumiela capped the four-goal outburst by the Lady Rams with a late goal in the second half.
