Oceanside on roller coaster ride

Oceanside’s boys’ soccer team has had its share of ups and downs so far as it reaches the midway point of the season.
The Sailors currently sit in ninth place in the conference at 3-3-1, but coach Patrick Turk believes that the team has yet to reach its full potential.
“We don’t really feel like the losses represent what the team is capable of and who we are,” Turk said. “We can do things a little bit better and we can compete with anybody. We’ve just had momentary lapses that have caused our three losses, but we have not been straight up beaten. It’s been quite a rollercoaster over the season.”
Oceanside is coming off of a 4-0 win over Academy Charter on senior night, which hopes to give the team momentum and point them in the right direction.
“We were able to get all our seniors in so anytime that happens, it’s obviously a great pleasure as a coach,” Turk said. “From there, we’re feeling good as a team going into a tough week.”

Leading the Sailors in goals is Giacomo Vacchio with eight. He has been on a roll after finding the back of the net in the second game in the season and scored two in the last game. Behind Vacchio with three goals is Sean Mahoney. Joe Zweben has been rock solid in goal so far, recording 46 saves in the team’s seven games. Derek Gromling and Jesse Cohen have made their presence known this season with creating the primary assists on a handful of goals.
Parker Roth, who also scored against Academy Charter, Anthony Picillo, and Luke Brosakas have also been impactful on the score sheet. Aidan Guchek has been a very solid defender in 2023 while Tyler DiCiantis has been a breakout player.
“[DeCiantis] is our utilityman, he’s been, um, finding success in each spot we put him in,” Turk said. “He’s so dangerous in the middle. If you, if you were to ask him, he would tell you he really enjoys playing midfield but we can deploy him in anyway we need. He can play up top, in the back and in the midfield.”
Oceanside’s next two games include matchups against Port Washington and then a trip to Plainview.
“We want to take it to Plainview. We feel like we owe them after they got us in the counties last year, but, we’re going to take it one game at a time,” Turk said. “Our goal is at the end of the season to qualify for the playoffs and we want a good seed. We’re just trying to climb up and we’re correcting the mistakes we have made in the past. It’s super encouraging, not just as a player, but as a coach to, to know that we were in it with every team.”
The path to the playoffs is right there for the Sailors. If they play to their potential, they very well could find themselves in another deep postseason run.