Olivia Mazziotti's penalty kick goal helps Lindenhurst girls soccer snap four-game losing streak

The last four games haven’t gone well for the Lindenhurst girls soccer team. And after the first five minutes of Wednesday, it didn’t look like things were going to be getting any better.

Madison Widecki scored less than four minutes into the match for Floyd. But instead of panicking, Lindenhurst goalkeeper Brooke Delzatto wanted to rally her team.

“After that first goal, I knew I had to get this team back to being hyped up and knowing we can come back,” Delzatto said. “It was only one goal. We all put our heads down for a second, but we knew we had to pick them back up.”

That’s exactly what they did as Lindenhurst scored the next three goals in a 3-1 victory over host Floyd in Suffolk Division I action. It was a crucial victory for Lindenhurst, snapping a four-game losing streak and improving to 4-6 in Division I. Floyd is 3-6-1.

“It’s nice to get a win,” coach Charlie Brostowski said. “This group of girls, we needed it. This was a must-win.”

Cameron Batz finished a perfectly placed through ball from Armina Yetimoglu to tie the score at 1 with 23:06 left in the first half. Nearly eight minutes later, Olivia Mazziotti scored on a penalty kick after a handball in the 18-yard box, following a booming free kick from Jessica Zielinski. The goal gave Lindenhurst a 2-1 lead with 15:15 left in the first half.

Once the handball was called, Mazziotti didn’t waste a second. She immediately set up for the opportunity.

“I knew I wanted to take it, so I just grabbed the ball and I didn’t have a doubt,” Mazziotti said. “It felt great when I saw it hit the back of the net.”

Brostowski said he doesn’t demand certain players take the penalty kicks. He wants to see who goes for the ball. It was no surprise that person was Mazziotti.

“She’s a natural leader and, to be honest, I don’t put that on them, I let them step up and see who wants it and it was clear,” Brostowski said. “She stepped up and hit a good one so it’s a little bit of a relief to see her get one in the back of the net.”

Grace Healy added the final goal 1:37 into the second half and Delzatto made 10 saves to limit any halt Floyd scoring chances.

“Once we got going, it felt right,” Brostowski said. “We got the girls going forward. We need to knock off the teams behind us in the standings.”

The Bulldogs haven’t lost their playoff hopes with four games left.

“Honestly, I’m just trying to win the rest of the season,” Mazziotti said. “I hope the team is feeling the same way and I feel like we can do that.”