Rolman Guardado’s two goals, one assist help Amityville get on track
Amityville's Rolman Guardado dribbles the ball upfield during a game against Islip on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. Credit: Richard T. Slattery
Amityville’s path to another state championship seemed easy.
After playing well in close losses to Class AA boys soccer powers Massapequa and Brentwood, the team believed it could roll through Class A. The Warriors, who won the 2015 state title, inflated their confidence by following their non-league slate with a rout of Miller Place.
Then Westhampton stunned Amityville, and Sayville also got the best of the defending champions two matches later.
In their first match since the loss to Sayville dropped them to 2-2 in league, the Warriors throttled visiting Islip Friday afternoon. Rolman Guardado scored twice and had an assist in the 5-2 victory.
“Before, we used to take it for granted [that we were going to beat Westhampton],” said Guardado, the postseason hero who scored the winners in the Long Island final and state semifinal last year. “Now, since we lost two [League V] games, we’ve got to get our focus back.”
While the Warriors have had trouble finishing easy chances at times this year, that wasn’t the case against Islip (1-4). Guardado scored in the ninth minute, taking a pretty feed from Marlon Martinez down the right side of the box and finishing in the upper left corner.
“Every time we got a chance [in the league losses] we would miss and then we wouldn’t put them away first half like we did today,” Guardado said. “Then one little mistake, they would score and we’re fighting for our goal and they’re sitting back. This is what we have to do every single game — put them away in the first half.”
In a seven-minute span, the Warriors did that. Kevin Medrano fed Henry Martinez, who buried a shot in the 23rd minute. Islip got the goal back two minutes later on Matt Chieco’s header, but Guardado scored again in the 28th minute and Oscar Hernandez followed by tapping in Medrano’s ball into the box in the 30th to make it 4-1.
Before rattling off nine consecutive wins en route to the 2015 state title, Amityville lost three straight in the middle of the season. It’s earlier in the schedule, but the Warriors began their streak with a victory over Islip. Could it happen again?
“I want to think that but we have to put two games in a row together and then three,” coach Mike Abbondondolo said. “We’ve been inconsistent. We haven’t been able to win multiple games in a row. We’ll see.”
