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First female to score touchdown on LI
Sofia LaSpina of Mepham High School is the first female to score a touchdown in Long Island history.
NEW YORK - A four-yard reception allowed Sofia LaSpina to make history by becoming the first female in Long Island to ever score a touchdown.
"As soon as I caught the ball, 'they were like oh my god Sofia, that's awesome! You just did that!'" LaSpina said of her teammates, who showered her with high-fives on the sideline.
The 15-year-old junior caught a total of three balls in Mepham High School's 49-21 win over Roslyn, but the third proved to be the charm.
Sofia has played football since middle school and says her gender has never been a barrier to anything she wants to do.
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"The boys are just so kind, supporting," says LaSpina, who is a wide receiver. "They've never treated me different."
"We never looked at it differently, a teammate is a teammate," added Pirates running back Dominick Novello.
Mepham High School head football head coach says with the helmets on--you would never know they had a female on their team. Although her ponytail might just give it away.
"She comes out, she’s all about business and she doesn’t wanna be treated differently," adds Cracco. "She’ll get hit and bounce right back up."
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Her quarterback, Peter Mayo, says he knew she'd be open and make the play,
"She's not the biggest, but she's definitely pretty tough," adds Mayo. "She goes out there and competes with all of us during practice and she gets in during games--so that's got to be inspiring for little girls."
Her advice to other girls is simple.
"If you want to play football--just do it, just go for it if you want to go for it."
Sofia is also a catcher and plays first base for her high school squad and is leaning towards playing softball in college, but hasn’t ruled out playing football either.