A .500 finish for Long Beach

Long Beach and Plainview-JFK entered the final day of the Nassau girls’ soccer regular season with a chance to sneak into the third and final playoff spot in Conference AA-II, but a 2-2 tie kept either team from leapfrogging Hicksville.

The Lady Marines got goals from senior Briana Posada and sophomore Tara Murphy in an evenly played game. “Both teams had a chance for the playoffs, depending on what Hicksville did,” Long Beach coach Tara Wesselhoft said. “The last 25 minutes was back-and-forth with both teams trying to score. Neither of us was going to benefit by a tie.”

Senior goalkeeper Cathryna Hughes made eight saves for the Lady Marines, who lost only one of their last six games and finished 6-6-2. Their 20 points were three fewer than Hicksville, which tied Baldwin in its finale, and one less than Plainview.

“At one point, we were all tied for third place,” Wesselhoft said of Long Beach, Hicksville and Plainview. “It’s disappointing not getting to the playoffs, especially for the seniors, but at the same time we were happy to be playing for something on the last day. The girls worked hard all year.”

The Lady Marines were impressive down the stretch and suffered only one defeat — 2-0 at the hands of conference champion Syosset on Oct. 18 — after opening the month with a tough loss to Carey under the lights. “I’m very pleased with how we finished,” Wesselhoft said.

The roster featured a mix of seniors and underclassmen, led by standout Emily Agudelo. The Hofstra-bound midfielder led Long Beach with eight goals, the most memorable of which came Oct. 9 with two minutes remaining to beat Hicksville, 1-0. She also assisted on sophomore Katie Zator’s game-winning goal against Baldwin in the previous game.

“Emily was the player we looked to the most to finish and score,” Wesselhoft said. “She and Jessica [Shreck] worked well together in the middle. She had to make quick decisions with the ball because as soon as she got it, opponents converged on her.”

Agudelo followed her heroics against Hicksville with her first-career hat trick two days later in a 3-0 victory over Great Neck South. Shreck, a junior, assisted on two of the goals, and Posada had the other helper in a game that saw Hughes make 11 saves for her first of back-to-back shutouts.

Hughes, a three-year starter, had 54 saves on the year. “Losing Emily and Cathryna is huge,” said Wesselhoft, who thought junior Shauna Spruiell could take over in goal next year. “We gave up more shots than we took, and Cathryna made big saves throughout the season,” she added. “She’s a scrappy goalie who dives all over the place.”

Junior Melissa Rubin spearheaded the defense from the sweeper position. Also providing steady contributions in the back were senior Emily Cerda and Murphy at stopper, and junior Allyson Peysner and eighth-grader Kelly DiResto at fullback.