Lawrence tops Lynbrook on late goal

Lawrence's Wisdom Ezihie, left, worked against Lynbrook's Erik Vivar during last Friday's Class A playoff game won by the Golden Tornadoes, 1-0.

Tony Bellissimo/Herald

With the wind whipping to the tune of 30 miles per hour, weather was a factor in last Friday’s Nassau Class A boys’ soccer first-round playoff game between visiting Lynbrook and host Lawrence.

Each team controlled play with the wind at its back, and plenty of scoring opportunities fell by the wayside until 1:39 remained in regulation time. That’s when second-seeded Lawrence’s Francisco Quintanilla nailed a hard line-drive shot that snuck through the hands of Lynbrook goalkeeper Patrick Doody for the game’s only goal. It was Quintanilla’s 11th of the season and advanced the Conference A-II champions into the quarterfinals a year after they suffered a first-round playoff defeat as the county’s top seed.

“There are no style points in the playoffs,” Lawrence coach Pat Leary said. “It’s just about surviving and advancing. We didn’t talk much about what happened last year. We just wanted to be one of the eight teams still playing after today.

“We’ve got such a great group of kids who are talented and love playing soccer,” he added. “I’m glad they get to keep playing next week.”

The Golden Tornadoes (11-2-2), who beat Lynbrook during the regular-season, 3-0, advanced to host No. 7 Jericho, with a spot in this Friday’s semifinals at Hofstra going to the winner. It was a tough ending for the Owls (7-7-3), who went on the road Oct. 23 and beat Hewlett in a play-in game, 2-1.

“We did everything we set out to do today,” Lynbrook coach Josh Berlin said. “We knew they’d come out hard with the wind at their backs, but we weathered the storm in the first 20 minutes and had a great scoring chance of our own.

“I think once our guys saw that opportunity happen, they knew they belonged here and could win,” he added. “Our teams know each other so well and have played five or six times over the last three years. It’s heartbreaking to lose like that in the last few minutes. Patrick was everything for us all year. He was awesome. He’s an All-County caliber keeper. We’re not even here if it wasn’t for him.”