Long Beach falls short of playoffs

Long Beach’s late-season push to sneak into the Nassau Class AA girls’ soccer playoffs was halted by Calhoun in the Conference III finale on Oct. 25.

Michelle Iacono scored twice in the first half and goalkeeper Alissa Battaglia turned aside all five shots she faced to lead Calhoun to a 2-0 home victory. The result, coupled with Valley Stream Central’s win over Great Neck South, put an end to the youthful Lady Marines’ playoff hopes.

“We haven’t been to the playoffs in a long time and the girls are disappointed,” Long Beach coach T.J. Burke said. “Everyone wanted the season to continue, but we really accomplished a lot with a very young team.

“We went into the last four games needing to win all of them to clinch a playoff spot,” he added. “We ended up getting three of the four.”

Long Beach finished 5-7-2 in conference games, while Valley Stream Central went 6-6-2 to claim the 12th and final playoff spot in Class AA. “There’s only one game we can look back at and say it cost us,” Burke said. “We lost 3-2 at home to Carey after leading at halftime and controlling most of the game. For some reason we didn’t match up well with them and it didn’t go our way.”

The Lady Marines finished the campaign without a senior in the starting lineup. One of four freshmen, Shannon Horgan led the late October surge with 12 goals in the last six games after a switch to center-midfield from defense. Horgan, who had 13 goals and four assists on the year, earned All-County honors.

“Shannon carried us offensively down the stretch,” Burke explained. “She found a lot of ways to score.”

One of the more memorable goals to come off Horgan’s foot, Burke said, was a 40-yard free kick into the upper left corner of the net with five minutes remaining to complete a hat trick Oct. 21 and beat Valley Stream Central, 4-3. She also scored three of her four goals Oct. 12 in the last eight minutes to give Long Beach a 5-5 tie with Carey.

Sophomore Emily Agudelo, an All-Class choice, ranked second on the team with 10 goals and also had four assists. Her last goal was a big one — it came seven minutes into the second half and proved the game-winner in a 3-1 triumph at Great Neck South on Oct. 22. Freshman Jessica Shreck (five goals, three assists) added an insurance goal 11 minutes later.

Another freshman, sweeper Melissa Rubin, stepped up to lead the defense and picked up All-Conference accolades. Sophomore Lisset Sanchez and junior Caitlin O’Connell saw time at stopper, and sophomore Emily Cerda and freshman Allyson Peysner logged the majority of minutes at fullback. Junior Virginia Gillespie and sophomore Shannon Romig were keys at outside midfield. In goal, Cathryna Hughes totaled 113 saves and two shutouts.

“This group set the tone for a bright future,” Burke said.