The Varsity Boys Soccer Team continue to get better each game as they played to a 1-1 draw with Mineola HS under the lights at Hampton Stadium.

The Owls travelled to Mineola after playing to a scoreless draw two days ago with cross town rival Hewlett; a result that didn’t sit well with the team. Tonight’s game was a possible turning point in the game that could see the road to the playoffs get even more challenging. The coaches and players talked about the need to play a more confident ball, challenging for the 50/50 chances and winning the loose battles. Tonight proved that all that talk and mindset was starting to sink in.

The Owls and Mustangs played to a scoreless first half as Sophomore Jake Prince played very well in net for Lynbrook as he made 5 saves in the first half to keep the Owls even as the Mineola squad seemed to control much of the play early on. The Owls got stuck in and played confident first to the ball soccer and this saw the home team begin to get frustrated at their lack of productive offensive output.

The second half saw much of the same early on, but the as the time continued to come off the clock, the Owls began seeing their efforts pay dividends as they saw more and more rushes up the field. The Owls struck first in the 61st minute when they were awarded a corner kick after a service into the Mineola end by Marco Pantano was headed out of bounds. Junior Michael Werzinger served the corner into play and Pantano came through with the header into the back right corner of the net out of the reach of Mustang goal keeper Jesse Kostulias (5 saves). Owls up 1-0. With 19 minutes remaining the Owls began to play a bit more defensively as they looked to steal the game with a 1 goal advantage. After a couple of more chances and what seemed to be a Mineola side that was desperate, a foul was called on the Owls to the far right of the field in the 77th minute that proved costly. Mineola’s Marlon Portillo served the long ball from 32 yards out to the right to the back side of the Owls goal mouth where Joe Keesee was able to get inside the Lynbrook defense and head the ball in to the right corner of the net past keeper Jake Prince (9 saves). The Owls pushed hard to answer the score and with 1 minute remaining almost found it if not for a desperate play by the Mineola defense.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw with each team earning a point in the standings. The Owls now have 5 points in their last 3 games and seem to be improving each time they take the field. Hoping to take the unbeaten streak into their next league game on 9/27 when they host Lawrence HS at Greis Park to close out the first half of the season. The Owls do have a non league scheduled for Saturday 9/23 with Malverne / East Rockaway HSs where they expect to rest some players and get as healthy as possible for the Lawrence game.

Congrats Owls on a fantastic effort and game.

Pictures from the game:

https://lhssoccer.jalbum.net/%40%20Mineola%202023/