The Boys Varsity Soccer Team understand what is at stake as they play the final 4 league games of the 2024 season. They control their own post season berth if they win 3 of the final 4 games of the regular season and therefore have very little margin for error. First up for the Owls; a rematch with the Clarke HS Rams. The first meeting of the teams ended in a 3-0 win for the Lynbrook squad with goals tallied by Mike Werzinger, Devin Byrne and Jose Yapan Gonzales.

On the final day of September, the host Lynbrook would be looking for a complete effort and an early start to the scoring to set the tone for the afternoon. Mission accomplished as just 2:30 into the game, the Owls struck first for only the fourth time this season. Garrett Reid who has become a bit of a weapon on throw-ins, threw the ball in to the back side of the 18 yard box. Edward Stradowski came in from the back side, touched the ball with his foot back to the front post where Mike Werzinger put it home for the opening goal to put the Owls up 1-0. Stradowski and Werzinger combined for the first goal the last time the Owls and Rams played.

As the Lynbrook side continued to win the ball and move forward over and over, they accumulated 12 shots in the first half of play. The Clarke team seemed lost to find any momentum in the game until a lost ball in the midfield was cleared forward past the Owls defensive line. Clarke’s Christian Carballo raced to the ball past the defense was able to corral the ball and slid it past Lynbrook’s Jake Price (1 save) to level the game at 1 in the 25th minute. The score seemed to really bother the Owls as they knew losing the momentum in the game was not an option. It took the Owls just 13 minutes to open the game wide open with a pair of goals 45 seconds apart. It started at 38:15 when Garrett Reid brought down a bouncing ball and as he went to goal was body checked by the Clarke defender. He was able to keep the ball going forward where Jose Yapan Gonzales picked up the dribble on the ball and broke away to goal to give the Owls the lead. Just 45 seconds later, Marco Pantano continued his hot play when he brought down a ball of his own in the Rams defensive end, took a dribble to the right and fired a rocket past the Clarke net minder; Owls up 3-1.

The second half was definitely more chippy and physical as the clock continued to wind down. The Owls continued the attack having a number of great opportunities that just missed being converted. After a number of great chance were created by the Owls, the home team finally broke through again in the 68th minute when senior Axel Casares dropped off a pass to Pantano who again took a dribble to the right and fired another shot past the Clarke goal keeper to extend the Owls lead. The visiting team started getting a bit more physical as they accumulated 10 fouls in the second half compared to just 2 in the first half. The game came to a head in the final 10 minutes when a frustrated Clarke player lost his cool over a hard tackle and pushed one of the Lynbrook Players to the ground. The incident resulted in an ejection for the player and the Rams played a man down for the final minutes.

With the score well in hand, the Owls kept their composure and got through the final minutes of the game without any additional issues. The final horn sounded as the home team completed the season sweep of Clarke and earned the much needed 3 points, moving up into a playoff spot in the standings table.

Next up for the Owls is the second meeting with the Floral Park Knights as the Owls look to split the season series after a 0-3 loss in early September. The Owls know they can compete with the second place team and look to earn points on Saturday at 3PM as they play host at North Middle School.

Come out join the Owls Supporters and root on our boys to victory!!

Pictures from todays game: https://lhssoccer.jalbum.net/v.%20Clarke%209-30-24/