Newfield pulls out win over East Islip
Newfield didn’t play its best against East Islip and was thoroughly outplayed in the second half, but managed to eke out a 1-0 win in Suffolk League III today.
If Newfield makes a deep run in the postseason, the Wolverines might look back at this game as a turning point. Goalkeeper Brandon Hiltz was outstanding with nine saves. The best player, Sam Durkot, played limited minutes in the first half due to a left hamstring injury, and didn’t play in the second half.
East Islip kept play in the Newfield end for the second half. Then there’s Ricardo Contreras, who played in his first game after transferring from Oyster Bay two weeks, scoring the goal with 2:28 left in the game from Steven Lopes.
“It’s a good start for him,” Lopes said of Contreras. “He’s definitely a good asset to the team. You’re not always going to play the best, so you still have to pull out tough wins like we did. They kept a lot of people in the back. It was a little hard for the counter attack. We found a way and that’s all that matters.”
Said Hiltz: “We obviously didn’t play our best game at all. If we could pull out a win this way, we can beat anybody.”
Some good work around the goal by Lopes led to the winner.
“Lopes was doubled-teamed all game,” Newfield coach Jamie Santiago. “I knew eventually he would have an opportunity. He did the right thing and beat his man baseline. He found him and he hammered it home. Instead of going for the goal, he was unselfish. I knew we would get the opportunity.”
Newfield is tied for first with Smithtown West and the teams, both undefeated, will meet Wednesday. Durkot is a game-time decision.
“He could probably could have went a little longer,” Santiago said, “but it’s one game. We need him in the long run.”
Santiago’s message to the team following the game was a positive one.
“Good teams that want to go the distance have to find ways to win when they’re not playing well,” he said. “We weren’t good. We didn’t flow and we didn’t have our playmaker.”
