West Hempstead topped in OT

Each and every year, the West Hempstead girls’ soccer team is in the hunt for a playoff spot, and the opportunity and challenge of meeting a solid opponent from a stronger conference. This season was no different.

The Rams finished with a league record of 5-5, which was good enough for a third-place tie with Jericho in Nassau Conference AB-III, and a trip to the Class A playoffs. West Hempstead earned the No.13 seed, and drew No.4 Manhasset in the opening round.

Despite a remarkable effort, the Rams finished on the short end of a 1-0 match last Friday night at Manhasset. The Indians’ leading scorer Halle Palmedo scored the only goal, off a rebound, two minutes into sudden-death overtime to give Manhasset the win. 

Keeping Manhasset off the scoreboard for two halves and a pair over overtime periods was no easy feat. The Indians, the only team to beat No.1 Garden City during the regular season, controlled much of the play, and, due to a rash of injuries, West Hempstead was forced to play most of the match with a slew of freshmen.

Coach Mike Scaturro was extremely proud of his team’s performance. “We’ve been battling injuries all season, and went into the game down two starters,” Scaturro said. “Then, we lost our starting sweeper, Lydia Almeida, early in the game when she rolled her ankle. We played as well as we possibly could. No team that I have had here competed with a Conference I team like this group did. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Coming into the match, the Rams knew that one of the keys to keeping the match close would be containing Palmedo. The talented sophomore entered the postseason with 11 goals and four assists. She was the leading scorer in Conference AB-I.

Sophomore Taylor D’Allessandro was up to the task. D’Allessandro marked Palmedo all night long, keeping her from getting any clean looks at the net. When Palmedo finally was able to put the ball in the net, it was after a scrum up front and multiple rebounds. Freshman keeper Sydney Reitz was credited with 24 saves.

“It was a tough way to lose. We just couldn’t get the ball out from in front of the net,” Scaturro said. ““I thought if we got it to penalty kicks, we’d have had a real good shot to have won.”

Thanks to its strong regular season, West Hempstead had five players earn individual honors. Senior forward Lisette Palomo, who led the team with 13 goals and four assists, received All-County recognition. D’Allessandro and Almeida picked up All-Classification honors. Sabrina Rodrigues and Carly Sills were named All-Conference recipients.

Scaturro likes what he has coming back. “We only lose a few senior starters, so we have a lot of talent coming back,” Scaturro said. “This conference is real tough. It’s about as even as it gets, so most games could go either way. The future looks good. We should be OK.”