Long Beach girls soccer better positioned this time around

Last year was a rough ending for the Long Beach girls soccer team. There are no two ways about it. The Marines walked off the field following an 8-0 loss to South Side, which reached the state Class A final.

All offseason they worked toward getting themselves in a better position, should their paths cross again.

The two met again Wednesday in the second round of the Nassau Class A playoffs – the same scenario as last fall. But the result was much different this year.

After the two teams were tied at 1 following 110 minutes, No. 14 Long Beach defeated No. 3 South Side, 6-4, in penalty kicks to advance to the quarterfinals.

“We wanted revenge for sure,” coach Ashley Castanio said. “Just to lose a game 8-0 at that level will always stick with you for a long time and knowing we worked so hard and we had a different mindset this year, we knew we could get this done so that was definitely in the back of everyone’s minds.”

Samantha Kolb scored the opening goal for Long Beach off an assist from Jaymes Lind with 27:58 left in the first half, setting the tone early.

“Especially after how we lost to them last year, South Side definitely wasn’t ready for us to come out so strong,” Kolb said. “I think they were definitely shocked once we scored first and it definitely took them out of their game.”

Sienna Connolly scored the tying goal for South Side with 34:32 left in the second half. Kolb, Lind, Jocelyn Bravo, Kylie Dowler, Rylee Roberts and Ava Kolb, Sam’s younger sister, each converted a penalty kick.

Even after South Side scored the tying goal and entered the overtime period, Long Beach remained confident. 

“Everyone had faith in each other and we just knew,” Kolb said. “We told each other ‘You got this,’ and we went out there and finished the job.”

Alexis Richards made 24 saves, including two penalty kick saves, for Long Beach (13-1).

“She was huge,” Castanio said. “She really proved herself that she can be a top goalkeeper in our league.”

Wednesday was a monumental victory for Long Beach over a prodigious program such as South Side. But the Marines hope it's not their final highlight of the fall.

“It’s the biggest it can get to a certain extent other than now us winning the county championship,” Castanio said. This is like the biggest accomplishment the program has ever done and the school definitely feels it. Everyone is excited, you can feel it in the building and this is definitely a big signature win for this program.”

Long Beach defeated No. 11 North Shore, 1-0, in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Marines play No. 2 Garden City in the semifinals at Cold Spring Harbor High School Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Suffolk brackets released

Top-seeded Ward Melville, No. 2 Commack and No. 3 Northport received first-round byes in the Suffolk Class AA playoffs, which open on Monday. Some of the biggest single-season turnarounds in the playoffs include No. 7 Lindenhurst, which went 5-7-2, and No. 13 Bay Shore, which went 4-10, last season.

Shoreham-Wading River earned the top seed in the Suffolk Class A playoffs and is the only team with a bye in the first round, which began Saturday. The 15-team postseason is sure to provide entertainment throughout next week, leading to a championship doubleheader with Suffolk Class AA November 1 at Shoreham-Wading River High School.