Hewlett doubles 2022 win total

A hard-fought 1-0 defeat at Carey Oct. 10 ended any chance Hewlett could capture the Nassau Conference 4 girls’ soccer title and the playoff berth attached to it, but the Bulldogs are still enjoying a memorable campaign.

Hewlett’s 2-0 victory at Valley Stream Central last Saturday allowed it to double last year’s win total with games against the only two teams ahead of it in the standings — Carey and Roslyn — remaining. Senior Marcie Iannico and freshman Daniella Kotlyar scored as the Bulldogs won for the fifth time in their last six tries, with the only bump in the road the loss to Carey.

“We battled hard, but Carey is a very good team,” Hewlett coach Gil Kreiss said. “We hadn’t faced them yet because weather postponed the original first meeting. We needed to pressure them more than we did.”

The Bulldogs, who stand 8-4-1 overall and in third place in the eight-team conference after Saturday’s bounce-back victory, won four games in 2022. “We’ve been getting stronger throughout the year,” Kreiss said.

Hewlett’s top two performances to date were games it avenged early season road defeats, flipping the switch on Great Neck North and East Meadow.

The first time through the schedule, the Bulldogs lost a wild 7-5 match at Great Neck North despite a hat trick from Iannico, and then fell 3-2 at East Meadow as the Jets converted a pair of corner kicks. “We were missing our best defender [Catie Iannico] against Great Neck and that game was just crazy,” Kreiss explained. “They scored twice in the first two minutes and we were down 3-2 after five minutes. It was back and forth.”

Hewlett opened October with a 3-1 home win over Great Neck North as Marcie Iannico and Kotlyar each had a goal and an assist, and sophomore Olivia Brown added a goal. Three days later, junior Jane Marshalik scored and assisted on Marcie Iannico’s game-winning tally in a 2-1 victory at East Meadow.

“Our bus broke down on the way to East Meadow and we barely warmed up,” Kreiss said. “We fell behind 1-0 but battled back. That was a really good win.”

Eighth-grade goalkeeper Alyssa Reich, who earned the starting job during tryouts, blanked Glen Cove, 1-0, Oct. 7 with 5 saves as the Marcie Iannico-Kotlyar connection clicked once again to produce the game’s lone goal in the first half. The teams battled to a 2-2 draw in the first meeting.

Reich posted another 1-0 shutout Oct. 11 at Elmont as Marcie Iannico, who enters the last two games of her high school career with 45 goals, scored.

Twins Marcie and Catie Iannico, both captains, will play at the next level at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. Catie is one of Hewlett’s rocks at center-back along with junior Sienna Lapaglia. “Catie is like our Marcie on defense and Sienna is a smart player who’s always in the right spot,” Kreiss said.

Sophomores Giuliana Oliviero and Zarina Wadiwala helped solidify the defense on the outside, while seniors Anna Lamour and Brianna Liao-Greene have provided strong midfield play and leadership as captains.