Lynbrook eyes deep playoff run

The Lynbrook Owls set a few goals prior to the 2012 soccer season. Among the goals was to earn a trip to the playoffs, another was to compete for a conference title.

While the Owls fell short of the league championship, Lynbrook (11-2-1 overall, 8-2-1 in Conference A-VI) finished in second place and earned the sixth seed in the Nassau County Class A playoffs. 

In a recent 6-3 win over Malverne/East Rockaway, senior captain James Cullen scored a pair of goals, and senior Juan Nielsen had a goal and two assists to lead the Owls. The six-goal effort was Lynbrook’s highest scoring output of the season.

Head coach Josh Berlin believes continuity on defense has been the key to the team’s success. “Having the same nucleus of players together on the back line has enabled the group to get more and more confident playing with one another,” Berlin said. “When the group communicates and keeps its shape, they’re very difficult to penetrate. When they’ve been on the field as a unit, they’ve given up very few goals.”

The defensive unit, which is composed of seniors Damian Andreani and Ian Reid, and juniors Timur Ceylan and Zak Fellows, has helped lead the Owls to seven shutouts. Junior keeper Anthony Rodriguez has been in net for six out the shutouts. He stopped all eight shots he faced in a 0-0 tie with unbeaten Lawrence.

The Owls have found the back of the net 35 times on the season with Cullen leading the way with 12 goals. Not only is Cullen among the conference leaders in goals, he is tied for fifth in Nassau County. Junior Tyler DeMarinis has five goals and two assists, and junior captain Brendan Tedaldi has picked up three goals and four helpers. Sophomore Gordon Purdie has four goals.

The Owls were riding a nine-game unbeaten streak when they fell to Manhasset 2-0, last Saturday night. Lynbrook came out flat and never got on track as it lost for the first time since Sept. 14.

Berlin hopes the loss will be a wake-up call. “We played pretty much as poorly as we could play,” Berlin said. “We have to learn from the loss and bounce back. I’m hoping that the guys will take it as a signal to raise our level of play. It is better we have a game like this now rather than in the playoffs.”

The Owls have another goal to get after — a trip to the Class A semifinals. “The playoffs are all about winning on that day and advancing,” Berlin said. “We want to be among the four teams playing at Adelphi. If we create more scoring opportunities, get the ball on net, and crash the goal, we could make some noise in the playoffs.”

The Owls will host a playoff opener at Lynbrook North Middle School against an opponent to be determined this Saturday at 2:30 p.m.