Late goal earns Hewlett draw

Running out of time and daylight after Division’s bus was late to Hewlett for a Nassau Conference AB-IV girls’ soccer matchup on Oct. 1, causing officials to shave 10 minutes off each half, senior Sydney Corda salvaged a 2-2 draw for the host Lady Bulldogs by scoring her second goal of the day with less than five minutes to go.

“I’m glad we at least got the tie,” Hewlett coach Gil Kreiss said. “You always want to beat the first-place team and I thought we were playing really well. It would’ve been nice to see what we could’ve done with an extra 20 minutes. I never want to play a shortened game.”

Corda opened the scoring in the first half by converting a pass from junior Kylie Halpern. Goals by Alyssa Williams and Brittany Voboril early in the second half gave Division a 2-1 lead, but Hewlett sophomore goalkeeper Karlie Stolls (seven saves) shut the door thereafter as the Lady Bulldogs (1-2-2 in AB-IV) extended their unbeaten streak to three games.

“It’s a pretty balanced conference,” said Kreiss, who last season guided Hewlett to its first conference championship in program history. “We’ve seen everybody once and we’re looking forward to the rematches,” he added.

The first of those rematches comes this Friday night when the Lady Bulldogs host Carey at 7 p.m. as part of Homecoming festivities. Corda, a five-year varsity player, scored Hewlett’s lone goal in the first meeting won by Carey on Sept. 19. She also had three assists in a come-from-behind win over Friends Academy a week later.

“Sydney is having the big year I expected,” Kreiss said. “I can’t think of a game where she hasn’t been the best player on the field. She’s doing a great job controlling the center [midfield] along with Alex [Levy].”

Levy, a junior, is a returning starter who is smart with the ball and a key distributor. “Sydney and Alex both read and react very well,” Kreiss said. 

Senior Casey Levy, who scored the conference-title clinching goal last fall, is a steady outside midfielder with experience. A pair of eighth-graders, Katie Korin and Stella Mazzitelli, have been impressive since the first day of practice, Kreiss said, and getting major minutes at outside middie. Korin’s first varsity point came in the win over Friends.

“The season turned with the Friends game,” Kreiss explained. “We lost our first two conference games and were down 2-0 to Friends. But we managed to rally.”

Halpern, who scored the game-winner against Friends after senior Elizabeth Sossan and freshman Alyssa Rotblut brought Hewlett even, starts up front with junior Kim Levy. Last year’s leading scorer, Hasseena Lamousnery, is missing her junior campaign with a knee injury, and former starting forward Katherine Sossan now anchors the defense along with Elizabeth Sossan, juniors Gillian Moser and Erin Schechter, and freshman Sam Panzarella.

With big shoes to fill in goal following the departure of standout Nadia Neiteich (Northeastern University), Stolls has been outstanding, Kreiss said. “She has tremendous skills and makes the difficult saves,” he noted.