62.0°,
Mostly Cloudy Lynbrook part of tight race
In a conference so tight that at nearly midseason the second-place and seventh-place teams have the same number of wins, the Lynbrook girls’ soccer team has struggled for any kind of elbow room.
It hasn’t come easily. The Lady Owls have been jockeying for position in the early going with Valley Stream North, Valley Stream South, Roslyn, Mineola and Hewlett, and will probably continue to do so throughout October. Among Conference A-III schools, only Jericho (6-0-1, including 4-0-1 in conference) has distanced itself from the pack.
After its first five games, Lynbrook was 1-2-2. Only its 5-0 loss to Jericho in the season-opener was decided by more than one goal.
“They’re have been a lot of nailbiters,” Lynbrook coach Jen Dankenbrink said. “There will probably be a lot of teams that finish .500. It’s a tough conference, but it’s been a fun season.”
Even in their 5-0 home loss to Jericho on Sept. 13, the Lady Owls held Jericho in check through the first half before being blitzed after intermission. They had 10 shots on goal but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Following the Jericho game, Dankenbrink decided to insert eighth-grader Michelle Cantanno in the goal, and the Lady Owls have yielded just seven goals in their last four matches as Cantanno has made 37 saves.
In Lynbrook’s 2-1 win over Valley Stream North on Sept. 17, Cantanno stopped 12 shots and ninth-grader Patricia Loonie scored twice, once on an assist from Megan Montine and again on a feed from her sister, Katie. Following a 1-0 loss to Valley Stream North, the Owls played Mineola to a 3-3 draw. Patricia Loonie again scored twice, and also assisted on senior midfielder Lauren Sobel’s first varsity goal. On Sept. 27, Lynbrook played to another tie — there have been a slew of them in A-III, as each team has at least one and Roslyn and Mineola each have three already — this time 2-2 against Roslyn. First-half goals by Patricia Loonie and senior Carrie Feltkamp offset two Roslyn goals, and then both defenses clamped down in the second half.
Lynbrook is led defensively by seniors Megan LoIacono and Maggie Moran.
“They’re fast and they’ve done a great job for us,” Dankenbrink said.
Lynbrook hosts Floral Park on Thursday. On Saturday Oct. 15, the Lady Owls will participate in soccer day and the varsity and JV squads — girls’ and boys’ programs — will tangle with Malverne/East Rockaway’s teams at South Middle School beginning at 1:45 p.m.
