Back on September 21st, the Lynbrook Varsity Soccer Team traveled to Hampton Stadium in Mineola in the front end of the season to match-up with the Mustangs in Conference A West. The game was a fantastic battle that saw the Owls take a 1-0 lead late in the second half just to see Mineola convert the equalizer and preserve a 1-1 draw and securing a point for each of the teams.

Fast forward to October 13th and the two teams met again on the date that turned started out to be a day of celebration for the Owls as they not only celebrated the 8 members of the senior class on their team but were about to play the very first athletic contest on the newly installed turf field at North Middle School. The day was full of optimism as Lynbrook needed just a draw to earn a berth into the post season tournament for the fifth time in as many years.

One by one, the Lynbrook boys arrived to a beautiful and immaculate field as the finishing touches were completed just that very morning. The team was elated and excited to finally be playing at their home field and more so for their senior teammates to be playing the final regular season home game for their high school career on the new field.

After introducing and celebrating the senior class, the team prepared for what Coach Berlin referred to as “a necessary complete effort” if they were to earn the desired point/s against a very good Mineola side. Similar to the first meeting, Mineola came out and showed their ability to connect and control the ball as the Owls maintained their shape and allowed little progress for the Mustangs. However, in the 13th minute of the game, a late challenge inside the Owls defensive box, led to a penalty shot that Adryn Campos converted past Owls keeper Jake Prince (8 saves) to give the Mustangs the 1—0 lead. The Owls seemed to settle into the game a bit after that until the 24th minute when Jose Escobar, who leads the conference in goals, collected the ball in the far corner and squeezed a shot inside the post past Prince’s outstretched arms; 2-0 Mustangs. The game saw the Owls begin to double down on the efforts which led to a few quality chances in front of the Mineola goal but did not result in a score. The half ended with the Mustangs holding the 2 goal lead.

Half time was shortened due to the impeding darkness and the Owls knew that they were in a race against the clock to score and level the game before darkness would possibly play a factor. Lynbrook made a couple of halftime adjustments and they paid dividends almost immediately. Senior Patrick O’Doherty was moved to the top of the field where the Owls hoped his physicality and speed would outmatch Mineola’s defense and it worked. in the 42nd minute O’Doherty found room with the a ball sent to him by Sam Moscheni and pushed towards the goal where he scored past Mustang’s keeper Jesse Kostulias (4 saves) into the left corner of the net bringing the Owls within 1.

With 38 minutes remaining and darkness creeping in, the Owls were now desperate to get the equalizer and needed to start matching the Mineola desire to win the 50/50 balls and challenges. The goal in most cases would have energized the team, but it was not the case. The Owls sat back and did not change their tendencies and the Mineola team began to pick them apart. Escobar struck again in the 52nd minute and then Sophomore Zain Rees joined the part in the 68th minute both assisted by Adryn Campos extending the Mustang lead to 4-1. The Owls had 2-3 more quality chances as the game began to be eclipsed by darkness and eventually the final seconds ticked off the clock leaving the Owls with their 4th loss of the season.

With the loss, the Owls now sit at 4-4-3 and now must earn the draw or win against Lawrence HS on the road whom they drew 1-1 against 3 weeks earlier. With Valley Stream South just 2 points behind the Owls for the final automatic bid to the playoffs, the Owls must start playing with that necessary edge and mentality of lose and go home, win and move on. VS South must still play Mineola and Lawrence in the final week of the season and with a little help, the Owls will secure the berth to the post season. Game time Tuesday is 4:0 at Lawrence HS.

Pictures from Senior Ceremony:
https://lhssoccer.jalbum.net/Senior%20Day%202023/
Pictures from the Game:
https://lhssoccer.jalbum.net/v.%20Mineola%202023/