Lynbrook brings depth and experience

In 24 years as Lynbrook boys’ soccer coach, Josh Berlin has never had a squad as large as this year. The Owls carry a robust roster of 27 players, 15 returning from last season and unprecedented depth.

But none of them can replace Patrick O’Doherty. The senior forward was an All-County selection who scored 6 of the Owls’ 15 goals a year ago. “I don't have that type of player to replace him,” Berlin said.

Sam Moscheni, who had four goals and two assists last season, is a two-time All-Conference selection, a four-year varsity player, and one of the team’s four captains.

Also wearing the captain armband for the Owls are a pair of three-year varsity midfielders in Edward Stradowski, who Berlin described as the “verbal motivator” and Mike Werzinger, who leads by example through his tremendous work ethic.

And then there’s Marco Pantano, a four-year varsity player who was a two-time All-County center back. “We think we have a really good mix between the four of them to motivate the rest of the team beyond what a coach needs to do to motivate them,” Berlin said.

A rock in central defense, Pantano is moving up the field to anchor the midfield this season.

“He is picking up the role of being the catalyst and being the guy that is going to generate whatever we do on the field,” Berlin said. “He is a fast, physically dominant player who is a very hard player to displace the ball from and plays at a speed that makes us successful.”

Junior Jake Prince, an honorable mention All-County selection last year, returns as the starting goalkeeper.

Noah Chisena, a third-year player, and junior Devin Ryan are expected to partner in central defense, while Devin Byrne is a returning starter at left back and Jeronimo Valencia, who competed for the Met Oval academy, will be at right back.

Axel Casares and Fabian Safsten-Suarez will feature in the midfield, while Garrett Reid, Gabe Gallagher and Giovanni Bello will look to form a scoring-by-committee attacking group.

A year after the Owls “limped into the playoffs with a losing record,” Lynbrook has expectations of a better regular season and a deeper postseason run in Nassau A-1 which features defending county champions Mineola and Floral Park.

“A conference championship is always the level of success,” Berlin said. “But getting to the playoffs is another marker that we always look to do.”