Six weeks after Oceanside rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Westbury, the Sailors found themselves in a deeper hole against the Green Dragons in Sunday’s Nassau Class AA boys’ soccer semifinal matchup at Mitchel Athletic Complex.
Down by three early in the second half, second-seeded Oceanside struck twice in the 49th minute and fought like crazy to get the equalizer but it never materialized in a season-ending 4-2 defeat. Edison Arias Velasquez sealed No. 3 Westbury’s first trip to the county championship game with an insurance goal with 1:39 remaining. It was his second goal of the day and team-leading 12th of the season.
The Green Dragons (11-4-1), who fell 4-2 at Oceanside on Sept. 21 after holding a 2-0 lead, were cruising in the rematch after Velasquez’s first goal gave them a 3-0 advantage less than seven minutes into the second half. Jeffrey Moran and Edwin Escobar tallied in the first half.
However, the Sailors (10-2-4) lifted themselves up quickly and in the blink of an eye it was 3-2. They scored two goals in 26 seconds. Senior David Acker and junior Ethan Recchia both popped in their sixth goals of the campaign and gave Oceanside newfound hope with more than 31 minutes still on the clock.
“It’s not easy to pick yourself up from three goals down, but I kept reminding the guys of the day we rallied against Westbury,” Sailors coach Patrick Turk said. “We just had to relax and play. We got ourselves right back in it and kept pushing. We had their goalie looking nervous. We just couldn’t get one more.”