Baldwin splits with top rivals

Baldwin accomplished half of its goals on the soccer field last week, avenging an earlier defeat to second-place East Meadow but suffering an ugly loss at defending Nassau Class AA champion Hicksville.

The split put the Bruins at 5-3-1 in Conference AA-II with three games remaining before the playoffs, which are set to begin Sunday, Oct. 31. They sit in third place with 16 points, two points behind East Meadow.

“We had a great game against East Meadow, but we didn’t come out with any fire against Hicksville and they handed it to us,” Baldwin coach Mike Palumbo said. “We’re still in a good position. If we win out, we’ll be seeded fourth, fifth or sixth and host a playoff game for the second year in a row after not doing so for 15 years. That shows how far the program has come.”

The Bruins started the week on a high note, outshooting host East Meadow 15-4 and getting the only goal of the game off the foot of sophomore Kyle Lindau. He one-timed a deflected shot from senior Tana Weekes past Jets goalkeeper Hector Guerrero, who was tremendous otherwise and blanked Baldwin 1-0 in the first meeting Sept. 22.

“I think we learned a lot from the first East Meadow game,” Palumbo said. “We came in strutting our stuff and they thoroughly outplayed us and brought us back to Earth. We were lucky it was only 1-0.

“This time we took care of business like we thought we could,” he added. “We were much more physical and aggressive and had the better of the play in both halves.”

 Senior goalie Vincent Pellegrino turned aside all four shots he faced, one of which nearly tied it late in the first half. “It was an amazing save,” Palumbo said. “He punched the ball over the crossbar and crashed against the post.”

The defense in front of Pellegrino (64 saves, five shutouts in 2010) was airtight, led by seniors Stephan Tang and Jarek Babb, junior Phil Flores and freshman Peter Rafftery. 

Flores had the tough task of shadowing Jets forward Anthony Posillico, who got the best of him in the first meeting and scored on a header. “Phil had one job and couldn’t have done it any better,” Palumbo said of Flores’ performance in the rematch. “He had the best game of his life in my opinion.”

The Bruins would need their best-ever performance to have a shot to dethrone Hicksville should the teams meet in the playoffs. The Comets, led by star senior striker Tim Parker (county-high 18 goals), have a great shot to repeat. “We know they’re a great team,” Palumbo said. “We were beating them 1-0 at halftime at our place before Parker got three goals in seven minutes.”

Palumbo saw his team go 4-0-1 in between Hicksville losses. Senior Chris Walsh had a hat trick in a 7-2 win over MacArthur to begin the five-game unbeaten streak, which included a scoreless tie with Port Washington.