Long Beach upsets South Side

Before Long Beach’s Nassau Class AA boys’ soccer quarterfinal match at South Side, coach Leo Palacio told his players to be ready for the “in the box” play during its first corner kick attempt.

The Marines had yet to convert this season on the set piece designed to generate a scoring chance off a loose ball by letting the corner kick hit the ground, but last Friday evening the team picked an opportune time for the play to work to perfection.

In the 31st minute, Ryder Heitefuss sent a corner kick into the box and Derek Jimenez- Ramos booted home a shot from his left foot off a scramble in what proved to be the winning goal in a 3-0 upset win against the third-seeded Cyclones.

“Every year we have scored on the in the house except this year so I mentioned to the team that we are going to run it on the first corner kick,” Palacio said. “We practice that play every day.”

The quarterfinal win sent Long Beach to the county semifinals against second-seeded Manhasset at Mitchel Athletic Complex in Uniondale Monday evening where the Marines were striving for the first finals appearance since 1993. 

After grabbing that crucial corner kick goal with under 10 minutes left before halftime, Long Beach added some insurance when Thomas Gosden converted a penalty kick early in the second half for a 2-0 lead after Ryan Fitzgerald drew a foul  in the box on a counter attack.  Gosden then added another penalty kick goal for some added cushion. 

Junior goalkeeper Jayden Zarco made sure Long Beach’s lead held up with 12 saves for his seventh shutout of the season. Palacio also credits the play of senior All-County sweeper Alejandro Castro with helping to register the clean sheet.

The shutout against South Side at Darcy Field came nearly two years to the day on the same turf that Long Beach upset the then top-seeded Cyclones in penalty kicks in the first round of the playoffs. South Side’s season ended at 10-3-3. 

“It is a great group of guys and I had a wonderful time with them,” said third-year South Side coach Patrick Corvetti. “I’m looking forward to coaching the guys that are returning.” 

Senior goalie Ryan Coico recorded seven saves in his final high school game. Junior Luca Tarulli neatly gave South Side a lead in the 27th minute, but Zarco was able to track down the shot after it got behind him. 

Long Beach reached the quarterfinals with a wild first-round win at home over Great Neck North Oct. 23. It took sudden-victory penalty kick heroics from Zarco to give the Marines a 4-3 decision following a 1-1 draw through regulation and double overtime. Each team scored three times on five shots in the first round of penalty kicks. Zarco then denied his counterpart, Everett Bailey, on Great Neck North’s sixth attempt. Then, coach Palacio made a snap decision to use Zarco as the Marines’ next shooter. Zarco delivered the winning goal.

“I saw their keeper put his head down after Jayden stopped his shot, so I thought why not let Jayden take the shot right there,” Palacio said. “The whole game was crazy. It was the most exciting high school game I’ve been a part of in 35 years. It was back-and-forth all night."