West Hempstead falls in OT

For a second straight year, West Hempstead played up to the level of its competition only to fall a little short in a Nassau Class A girls’ soccer first-round playoff game.

Jaclyn Corbin converted a pass from Julianna Kissane with 32 seconds remaining in the first of two mandatory 10-minute overtime periods to lift third-seeded Wantagh over the No. 14 Lady Rams, 1-0, on Oct. 22.

“We knew it was going to be a defensive struggle with weather being a factor,” West Hempstead coach Mike Scaturro said. “Neither team had a wind advantage in the first half with the win going west to east, but it blew north to south in the second half and we were under a lot of pressure. 

“We didn’t give up any point-blank shots and made it tough on Wantagh,” he added. “We pushed more girls forward in the second overtime and had a couple of chances, but we just couldn’t score.”

The flow of the game and outcome was similar to last season when as the No. 13 seed, West Hempstead gave Manhasset a run for its money before falling in triple OT. “It was almost the exact same team we had on the field in last year’s playoff game,” Scaturro said. “We’ve shown, and other teams from Conference 3 have shown, we can hang with teams from the top conference.”

The Lady Rams, who finished 6-3-3 in conference games and 8-4-3 overall, faced Wantagh without one of their top defenders — junior sweeper Lydia Almeida. Her absence caused some shifting all over the field. Scaturro used senior Natalia Roberts at sweeper, junior Taylor D’Alessandro at stopper, and senior leading scorer Lisette Palomo at center-midfield.

“We did a great job defending,” Scaturro said.

Sophomore goalkeeper Sydney Reitz made 14 saves, including a handful of challenging ones. Julianna King made four saves for Wantagh, which defeated Island Trees in the quarterfinals to advance to the semis.

“Wantagh was aware where Lisette was at all times,” said Scaturro, referring to the likely Iona-bound Palomo, who wrapped up a stellar five-year varsity career by earning Conference Player of the Year honors.

Palomo was named All-County for a third time after leading West Hempstead’s offensive with 14 goals and four assists while spending time at forward and midfield. She celebrated 49 goals at the high school level and added more than 20 assists. “She’s the third D-I player we’ve had in my 11 years coaching here,” Scaturro mentioned.

Roberts, an All-Class selection who had three goals and three assists, won’t easily be replaced and nor will three-year midfielder Kelsey Reichert and second-year defender Sophia Caldwell. Among the key returnees will be Almeida, an All-Conference performer, D’Alessandro, an All-Class choice who led the team with eight assists, sophomore Sabrina Rodrigues, an All-Conference selection, sophomore Aruna Mathura (six goals, three assists), and Reitz.

The Lady Rams allowed just 14 goals in 15 games, with six of those coming in two matchups with conference champion Wheatley.