Long Beach looking to rise

A goal off a corner kick from Plainview JFK’s Gabriella Simonian at 25:58 handed the Long Beach girls’ soccer team a 1-0 loss in its opening game on Sept. 5.

It’s the second year in a row that Long Beach fell in its opening contest. Last year, it was a 1-0 loss in the first game of the season that was the start of a nine-game winless streak for the Marines during what was their first season in Conference AAA/AA2.

But rather than letting the initial result be another bad omen, Long Beach isn’t leaving this season up to fate.

“All of offseason, our M.O. has been that we are dialed in,” Long Beach coach Ashley Castanio said. “The girls have come in with so much grit and are so focused. They’re ready to compete.”

As bad as last season’s record of 3-8-2 looks on paper, it doesn’t quite tell the full story. Despite what the standings said, the Marines didn’t measure success merely by wins and losses but by the incremental progress they made from game to game as Castanio set benchmarks for her players to give them something else to achieve.

“Making them those little each game kind of motivated them and kept them positive,” Castanio said. “Like after a game, even if we didn't get the outcome we wanted, we got to look at all the positive things we did that we didn't do two games before.”

One goal Long Beach had that eluded it for much of the season was to score off a cross pass into the box. Then, in their first-round playoff matchup against Herricks, not only did the Marines finally check that off their to-do list, but it helped them to a 4-0 victory, their first of the season, which sparked a run of three consecutive wins before falling to Garden City to close the year.

Castanio will bring those smaller goals back to the team this season, which also has several players returning to its roster.

After competing for the Turkish national team over the summer, Aysu Unver will be one of two team captains of the Marines in her senior season before she continues her soccer career at Ryder University next fall. Co-captain Noemi Wright as well as goalkeeper Alexis Richards, round out the rest of Long Beach’s leadership group.

Long Beach also features a crop of rising underclassmen, which includes freshmen Maya Kallelis, Maeve Lind, and Simi Wardarna.

In addition to Plainview JFK, the Marines will tangle with Manhasset, Mepham, Bethpage, Herricks and Port Washington twice this season in conference play. They’ll cap a three-match week with a trip to Bethpage this Friday.

“The biggest thing is that we want to keep growing and having fun throughout the season,” said Castanio. “I know that sounds like a cliché word, but that’s what I try to instill in them every day. They’re all such strong girls.”