East Meadow hits rough patch

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With a picture-perfect corner kick, Calhoun stayed perfect in Nassau Conference AA-I girls’ soccer with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory at East Meadow last Friday.

Junior Kathryn Healy headed in sophomore Brittany Munson’s corner with 23:38 remaining to win it for the Lady Colts, who captured their fourth straight conference game under first-year coach James Raucci. East Meadow, which led 69 seconds into the game on senior GinaMarie Wilson’s goal, slipped to 1-3.

“I saw the ball the whole way and just put my head on it,” Healy said of the game-winning goal. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence,” she added. “We stayed composed after falling behind early.”

Senior Lauren Marinello tied it midway through the first half with her team-leading sixth goal of the year off a crossing pass from junior Annie Coogan. Senior goalkeeper Gillian Stapler made 10 saves, while her counterpart, East Meadow freshman Stephanie Sparkowski, made nine stops.

“We talk a lot about shifting momentum and regaining momentum after you lose it,” Raucci said. “We’ve had a few games where we didn’t take control of the flow, but the girls do a really good job of responding. They’ve been resilient.”

For East Meadow, it marked the second time in three games an early lead slipped away. The Lady Jets scored seven minutes into their 2-1 defeat to Port Washington on Sept. 19. “We like to play a settled game,” coach Adam Hananel said. “We’ve been getting away from the rhythm we like to play and it’s something we need to address. They beat us to most of the 50-50 balls today and we have to work on being more aggressive.”

Calhoun (5-1-2 overall) has scored at least two goals in each of its four conference games. Working behind a defense led by sophomore Sarah Tappeto senior Morgan Connelly, Stapler posted back-to-back shutouts against Oceanside and Syosset. “She’s made a lot of quality saves,” Lady Colts assistant coach Melissa Rohr said of Stapler, who turned aside 16 shots against Oceanside and 10 against Syosset.

Sparkowski, already in her second year on varsity, will be a fixture in goal for the Lady Jets for a long time. “She plays high-level soccer,” Hananel said. “She’s got the tools and a great attitude.”

Sophomore Kayla Leary is leading the defense, which has been bolstered by sophomore Mary Boyle’s transition from the volleyball court. The Lady Jets are solid at center-midfield with junior Melanie Navas, who has five goals, senior Nicole Leary and freshman Alyssa Vega. 

“Melanie has been one of our most talented players for years,” Hananel said of Navas, who broke her foot two games into her freshman year and played sparingly a year ago for various reasons. “She’s in a better situation now and doing a lot for us,” he added.

East Meadow (4-3-1 overall) opened with a five-game unbeaten streak before dropping three straight. “We did a good job with our non-leagues,” Hananel said. “Our conference is brutal. If you don’t capitalize on a scoring chance or make a mistake, it can be costly.”