Lady Falcons in playoff contention

The first half of last Friday’s Nassau Conference A-III girls’ soccer game between Valley Stream South and Hewlett was played under sunny skies at Ogden Elementary School and featured a few quality scoring chances for each side but no goals.

In the second half, Mother Nature dominated. Numerous lightning strikes and a steady downpour of rain forced officials to end the important matchup 36 minutes prematurely, giving each team a tie in the standings.

Freshman goalkeeper Sammy Jo Shanahan made two saves for Valley Stream South (2-4-2), while junior Sarah Herzberg turned aside two shots from close range for Hewlett (2-2-4), which posted a fourth straight shutout.

“I thought we had the momentum when the storm came,” Lady Falcons coach Dina Viskovich said. “But it’s not a loss. We made progress in winning 50-50 balls and created some scoring chances.”

Junior Caitlin DiCarlo, who leads South in goals with four, and senior Christie DeMarco, who has three goals and two assists, had opportunities from inside of 15 yards. A direct free kick by DeMarco in the 18th minute sailed over the crossbar, and less than 10 minutes later Herzberg dove to deny DiCarlo.

“Caitlin’s not the biggest kid but she has great composure and ball control,” Viskovich said. “Christie is our major strength and opponents know it. She usually gets doubled when she gets the ball.”

DeMarco is one of five seniors on a roster with six freshmen, one sophomore and two juniors. “All the games are so close,” Viskovich said. “We don’t have a big team. We’re down to two subs, but the girls are battling through it.”

Viskovich called the influx of freshmen “exciting” and five started against Hewlett. Shanahan has been a find in goal and posted double digits in saves in recent losses to Lynbrook (1-0 on Oct. 11) and first-place Jericho (2-1 on Oct. 6.) “She’s so athletic and has the ability to play the field,” Viskovich said of Shanahan. “She’s come up pretty big in some games.”