Long Beach returns to semifinals

There were hundreds on hand to witness the clash of blitz versus blockade.

Rolling off its 3-2 quarterfinal upset of No. 2 seed Westbury, the seventh-seeded Long Beach boys’ soccer team sought to parlay house money and one-up its run from last season, but was halted 1-0 by third-seeded Massapequa in the Nassau Class AA semifinals last Sunday at Farmingdale State.

For the second year running, the Marines – who finished 9-5 on the season – marched into the final four, further blotting out a 20-year semifinal absence which ended last October. Standing between Long Beach and back-to-back semis was the matter of its rubber match with Westbury last week. After a 1-1 season series split, Long Beach was one of only two clubs to have beaten the Green Dragons (9-3-1), and as such believed it knew the key to foiling the AA-2 champs.

“Speed,” said Long Beach coach Leo Palacio in summarizing his team’s strategy. “We thought we could beat [Westbury] with a high-paced, fast game. They’d be trying to slow us down, and we were going to do the opposite. We practiced fast-paced all week, and it payed off.”

All-County senior Dillon Woods notched his second hat trick in as many games, dropping three on Westbury in the first half, before the Green Dragons employed double and triple marking assignments to slow the Marines’ star forward – not soon enough, though, to salvage Westbury’s cause.

“Our set play was just to throw the ball to Dillon and let him deal with the rest,” Palacio said. “In the first 20 minutes we were up 3-0. [Westbury] made some changes and started coming back. We got all our goals in early.”

The importance of a sizable early lead was underscored late in the second half, when Westbury – riding a momentum shift after shaking off its first-half shock – scored to tie the game at 3, only to have its celebration preempted by the far referee stationed towards midfield who cancelled the goal as a handball.

“Westbury’s smart,” Palacio said. “They adjusted, and almost got us. But they ran out of time.”

Against Massapequa, it was Long Beach that needed more time. The Chiefs apparently had gotten reports, and showed up with a scheme to neutralize Long Beach by separating the spearhead from the spear. From the outset Woods found himself contending with a four-man surround formation, which isolated the forward and kept a lid on fast breaks.

The Marines’ defense kept it close, with goalkeeper Jake Ignatow putting up eight saves.

“Jake played as well as any goalie I’ve seen,” Palacio said of the Long Beach senior who converted from midfielder to goalie this season. “He improved throughout the year, and against Massapequa, I think he had his best game. He kept us in it.”

Massapequa scored midway through the second half on Owen McGarity’s head-in off a throw-in.

“I’m proud of my boys,” Palacio said. “They played tough. We might not make semifinals for another 20 years. These kids did it twice.”