Baldwin enjoys big first half

Fueled by the first summer league championship in school history, Baldwin’s girls’ varsity soccer team has roared out of the gates, hoping that its last game, a 3-1 loss to first-place Syosset on Sept. 28, was merely a speed bump on the road to continued success.

“It gave us a lot of confidence entering the season and we’ve been riding that,” Lady Bruins coach Darius Burton said. “I think because of the success the team had this summer, the girls came together. We had a great offseason and it’s just carried over.”

Baldwin (6-1-1 overall, 4-1-1 in Conference AA-II) may have dropped that two-goal decision in a battle of Conference AA-II unbeatens, but the Lady Bruins have sure turned some heads the first time through the schedule. After seven games, the offense has tallied 19 goals and the defense went through a stretch where opponents scored just once in the previous five matches before Syosset finally broke through.

“Syosset scored in the first three minutes and they controlled the game 65/35 in the first half,” Burton said. “The second half [we controlled] 70/30. We hit the post, shot it just wide, just high. We had numerous opportunities and had them on their heels. We just couldn’t score.”

The combination of sophomore Jenna Annechiarico and junior Sarah Pulis at forward has proven to be a potent one. The two have already combined for eight goals, and both are just as strong at finishing as they are finding teammates. In a 2-0 win over Hicksville on Sept. 28, Pulis had a goal while Annechiarico had a pair of assists. Pulis tallied four points (two goals, two assists) and Annechiarico had a goal and an assist one game earlier, a 5-0 win over Plainview JFK on Sept. 25. Senior Nicole Sheintul and sophomore Aisling Geraghty also had goals.

“The girls are playing really well,” Burton said. “I think we surprised a lot of people. I told the girls that now we are like the hunted. We aren’t going to sneak up on anyone the second time around.”

As strong as the offense has been, the defense has been equally as stingy and it all starts in net with junior goalie Montia Moon. Before the first goal by the Lady Braves, Moon had a stretch of five straight appearances where she didn’t allow a single goal. And even with injuries on the backline, Baldwin still managed to keep opponents off the scoreboard. Junior Breanna Melendez stepped in at stopper for injured Bridgette Jules. In her return to the lineup, Jules scored against Syosset. Junior Julie Annechiarico remains the anchor of the unit in front of Moon.

“Until the Syosset game we hadn’t allowed more than one goal in any game,” Burton said. “Moon has great anticipation and good hands. The girls are [all] playing with a lot of heart and determination.”

The Lady Bruins host Lynbrook this Friday at 4:30 p.m., then travel to Valley Stream Central on Oct. 13.