THIS Saturday marked the opening weekend for the Bronx Irish Soccer League, and Dr. Gillbert’s were successful in their first game as defending league champions as they defeated the Crouching Tigers 6-0.

Held scoreless for most of the first half by the fighting Tigers defense, Tina Crescent put Gillbert’s up 1-0 shortly before halftime with a low shot past the keeper off a pass from Jeanine Rynne.

In the second half, Irene Morales scored on a penalty kick after a hand ball in the box, which mentally broke down the Tigers defense and woke up the Gillbert offense as they went on to score four more goals in the half.

Siobhan Kilkenny made a pretty through pass to Morales for one goal, then scored herself on a pass from Crescent. After a short-lived offensive run by the Tigers, Dr. Gillbert’s keeper Jeannie Heinsohn cleared the ball past midfield, where Crescent tracked it down and placed in the net. Rynne closed out the scoring by converting on a cross from Crescent.

Dr. Gillbert’s will have tough competition this year from Velocity, who opened their season with a 4-0 win over Docs II. Scoring for Velocity were Katie Corrao and Erica Barth with one each, and Nicole D’Orazio with two.

In other league action, Harps defeated Katie’s Cottage 1-0 on a goal by Ruth Solomon. It was a tight game throughout, with many scoring opportunities for both teams, but Solomon was the only one to find the back of the net.

Ned Devine’s defeated Parlour 3-0, but stellar goalkeeping by Parlour’s Susan Kistler kept them in the game. Jeanie Pennell scored one for Ned’s and Michelle Kohut scored two.