Glen Cove sticking tough

A year removed from a conference promotion and a co-league title, the Glen Cove Lady Big Red soccer team (2-2 in league play) is staying right in stride with its new counterparts.

“In Conference AB-6, you have to win a large percentage of your league games to make the playoffs, and we ended our season with 9 straight league wins,” coach Peter Falen said.

The Lady Big Red is now looking to challenge itself in Conference AB-5 with new adversaries to test their strengths, already defeating Clarke and Great Neck North while falling to Valley Stream South and Oyster Bay.

Although last year’s team caught fire and rallied the team to a newly-minted spot in a more competitive league, some familiar faces have moved on from the program.

“We’ve had 7 players graduate from the program,” Falen said. “However we have three girls returning that are playing key starting roles.”

Of those is senior forward Tatiana Guevara, a skilled and lightning quick star who knows a thing or two about shining brightly in athletic endeavors. Guevara, a three-time all county track star for Glen Cove High School, is currently focused on looking to make her mark in her last season of high school soccer.

“She’s one of the fastest players I’ve ever coached, having that track background, and can beat almost anyone off the ball,” Falen said. “She’s really focused on making the best of her last season playing soccer here.”

Guevara has gotten off on the right foot, amassing 7 goals and 5 assists over the span of 6 games, a statline padded by a monstrous 4-goal friendly against Conference AB-4 Floral Park. “She went up against a team another conference higher than us and played the way she did,” Falen said. “That had to feel great.”

Senior midfielder Delilah Perez also is a key part of the nucleus that makes this team go, along with senior center midfielder Sienna Nicolich.

“Nicolich is the workhorse of this team,” Falen said. “She can play equally as well defensively as she can offensively and really can play any position on the field.”

Jaynise Espinal, a junior returning goalkeeper, has already collected 29 saves through four league games, boasting an impressive 7.25 saves per game average.

Although playing up in a new league is exciting, there are also challenges that Glen Cove must face head on and counterattack with their most glaring strength: speed.

“I think with this being one of the quickest teams I’ve ever coached, we can compete with a lot of teams solely based on that, but I want us to continue to improve our skill over the course of the season and focus on having more possession of the ball late in games too,” Falen said.

Glen Cove’s uncanny speed comes from a summer’s worth of grueling conditioning programs that the players worked diligently to complete, culminating in the beginning of training camp in late August.

Glen Cove looks to Seaford and Great Neck South next.

“I think we will be very completive in both games and hopefully not just come out with a win this week, but two instead,” Falen said.