Overtime goal lifts South Side

With leading goal scorer Christina Klaum unavailable for overtime due to injury, top-seeded South Side still found a way to beat No. 5 New Hyde Park and advance in the Nassau Class A girls’ soccer playoffs.

Senior Emma Albarella’s sliding shot beat goalkeeper Christina Burkey early in the second 10-minute OT to give the Lady Cyclones a 1-0 semifinal victory last Saturday at Tully Park and brought them one step closer to an unprecedented 14th consecutive county championship. Sophomore Alex Reis assisted on the goal, Albarella’s third in the last four games.

“Emma has really stepped up the past few weeks,” South Side coach Shannon McEntee said. “There was a lot of chaos in the box. The ball bounced off a defender and went to Alex and she slid it over to Emma. It was a nice goal.”

Klaum, a freshman who scored her team-leading 14th goal of the year in a 2-0 quarterfinal playoff win over No. 8 North Shore on Nov. 3, missed the last 20 minutes of the semifinal after bumping heads with an opponent. McEntee expected her to be available for Wednesday’s title game against sixth-seeded Garden City, which beat No. 15 Jericho 2-1 in the other semifinal. 

“The girls are ecstatic, but we still have some work to do,” McEntee said. “Garden City plays a different style than us and definitely has some players we need to keep an eye on.”

With senior goalkeeper Lauren Lopresti still nursing a shoulder injury, sophomore Kelsey Berki made her seventh straight start for the Lady Cyclones and made four saves behind a defense led by seniors Dana Ahern and Beth Gidicsin, and juniors Caitlin Wallace and Sam Ford. Berki made 10 saves in a 3-1 win at Plainedge in the next-to-last Conference V game on Oct. 22. It was the most shots South Side allowed all season. “Kelsey has been tested,” McEntee said. “She’s a talented player. I think she gained confidence in the Plainedge game. It gave her what she needed to go forward.”

Albarella and senior Caitlin Hines picked up goals in a 2-0 win over No. 16 Hewlett in the playoff opener on Oct. 29. Hines also scored against North Shore, her ninth of the year.

Cyclones one win from repeat

Second-half goals by seniors Mike Marano and Alexei Lesko gave No. 2 South Side a 2-0 victory over third-seeded Island Trees in a Nassau Class A boys’ soccer semifinal game last Friday evening at Mitchel Athletic
Complex.

Marano headed home a pass from senior Ben Tetelman, while Lesko one-timed a cross from junior Kevin Cook for the defending county champion Cyclones, who advanced to meet No. 4 Wantagh for the title on Wednesday at Hofstra. Senior goalie Deven Khosla made two saves in posting his 10th shutout of the season.          

“We played a strong second half and had two beautiful goals,” South Side coach Fred Paul said. “It was a nice effort. We’re one step away from accomplishing one of the bigger goals we set at the beginning of the season.”