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Mostly Cloudy Owls in hunt for conference title
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Folnetti Alvarez has been one of the keys to Lynbrook's offensive consistency.
Susan Grieco/Herald
When the 2009 soccer season began, Lynbrook and coach Josh Berlin had a conference championship in mind. With four games to play, the Owls, 4-1-3 in Conference ABC-II and 6-2-3 overall, have every reason to believe they can capture the top spot.
After battling Wantagh to a 1-1 tie last Friday, Lynbrook is atop the league standings with 15 points, holding a one-point lead on Wantagh and New Hyde Park.
Berlin is happy with where the Owls stand, but hopes their best soccer is still to come. “Like every other team, we have some issues and things we need to improve upon,” Berlin said. “We’ve held leads in a few games and couldn’t finish out. We just need to keep improving, and ride positive momentum into the playoffs.”
Junior Angelo Messina, who has goals in two straight games, and senior Brian Brethel have raised their level of play as of late. Senior Antonio Condoleo and Brethel each scored a goal and had assists in a 3-1 win at Great Neck North on Oct. 6.
On defense, senior Jordan Zides has been outstanding for the Owls. Fellow senior Kevin Alonge and junior Andrew Marks have also been stellar for a unit that has yielded one or fewer goals in eight of 11 games.
The Owls have three shutouts for the season. Matt Patick has been in the net for all three, including back-to-back shutouts in games with Wantagh and New Hyde Park. Patick had seven saves in a scoreless tie with New Hyde Park. Sophomore Evan Foley filled in nicely in net, despite taking the loss in a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Island Trees.
Putting teams away has been a bit of a struggle. Lynbrook has seen three one-goal leads turn into a loss and two ties. Berlin is hoping the late-game breakdowns are a thing of the past. “It’s a team effort,” Berlin said. “We need to continue to pressure the ball deep into the game on defense, and we have to continue to apply pressure on the offensive end. We can’t sit back and expect to hold the lead. We need to finish games off.”
Lynbrook closes the regular season at home against Island Trees at North Middle School on Oct. 21 at 4:15 p.m.
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