Oceanside riding hot streak
Something strange was afoot - a solemn silence pervading the bus as Oceanside's girls' soccer team traveled to face its unbeaten nemesis.
First-year coach Daniela Chiera, a former Sailors girls' soccer assistant coach, knew immediately what it meant.
Leigha Zaman's last-minute goal to tie against MacArthur four days prior - stopping Oceanside's two-game slide in Super Conference AAA/AA1 - had sparked a change in her team’s mindset and modus operandi. Gone was the usual upbeat music. Chatter and bus-ride frivolity had ceased. Hurtling towards first-place Garden City, Sept. 20, the Sailors were all business.
“The girls were zoned in,” Chiera said. “Coming off of that MacArthur game, where they found a way to rally and tie, they were motivated to go against the conference’s number one team, who was undefeated, and bring an attack mentality.”
Amid a flurry of Sailors shots on goal (a then season-high 17), Kaylin Harrington’s found the back of the Trojans’ net, and it would prove sufficient, as Oceanside’s defense dealt the first in a string of three shutouts to down Garden City 1-0 – starting what has grown, at Herald press time, into a season-high four-game win streak.
“Leigha really started something, scoring that tying goal,” Chiera said of the All-County senior who was injured Sept. 27 in Oceanside’s 3-0 home win against Calhoun; bound for Marist College (Poughkeepsie) on a lacrosse scholarship, Zaman finishes the season with an assist and three goals – none more important than her line-in-the-sand tally in mid-September.
"After that, the girls made a decision, as a team, to give it everything going forward, and they’ve done it,” said Chiera, whose club (5-3-2, 5-2-2 in AAA/AA1) sits a game and half behind league leader Garden City after blanking reigning county Class AAA champ Massapequa 2-0 on Sept. 25, Calhoun 3-0 Sept. 27, and sending Syosset to a 3-1 defeat Oct. 1.
The team points leader after a pair of goals at Syosset, Samantha Gemmo (four goals, four assists) has paced the Sailors along with fellow senior Vanessa Frangiadakis, whose five goals lead the squad. Danniella Cairo (four assists) and Ava Bowers (two goals, four assists) share the Sailors assist lead with Gemmo, each member of the trio tied for fifth in the conference.
Coinciding with the club's newly invigorated attack, Oceanside’s defense, led by Cairo, Savannah Castoro and first-year goalie Julianna Ewashko (63 saves), has put on a fiercer face in recent weeks, allowing one goal in its past four games, two in its past five going back to MacArthur – a sharp drop from the eight allowed in its opening five contests.
Helping to kick off Oceanside’s roll, Ewashko notched a season-high 12 saves at Garden City.
“Julianna’s confidence and soccer IQ have improved game to game,” Chiera said. “It’s really what keeps her and the back four together as one unit to deny goals. Our back four are very smart, and they’re on an amazing run.”
Added Chiera: “I’m proud of this whole team. It’s remarkable that they’ve gotten attention by showing what they’re capable of. There’s still more fight in them, and I know they’ll keep fighting for every last bit, working to get that top seed.”
