South Side seeks strong finish

Expecting her team to be seeded as high as third or as low as fifth in the Nassau County Class A girls’ soccer playoffs, coach Shannon McEntee of defending champion South Side would like to see the lone aspect the Lady Cyclones have been lacking become a positive in the tournament.

“We’ve been playing quality soccer for 80 minutes,” McEntee said. “Skill-wise and teamwork-wise, I’m very happy. It all comes down to finishing around the cage. That’s the one area we need to be better. I’m hoping we’ve been saving the finishing touch for the playoffs.”

South Side (5-4-3 overall, 4-3-2 in Conference A-I) was trying to match a season-long three-game winning streak last Friday but was unable to solve Wantagh goalkeeper Julianna King (seven saves) in a 1-0 defeat. The Lady Warriors got the game’s lone goal off the foot of Ashley Gendels with 12 minutes remaining. It was the first goal Lady Cyclones junior keeper Kayla Klarides allowed in 10 days.

“We were absolutely happy with how the flow of the game went,” McEntee said. “We totally controlled play. We had multiple opportunities we didn’t cash in, and they got one good chance and capitalized.

“It’s frustrating because we were starting to move forward,” she added. “There’s nothing you can do but keep working hard.”

South Side was coming off consecutive shutouts victories over Manhasset (1-0 on Oct. 8) and Plainedge (3-0 on Oct. 14.) Klarides has six shutouts on the year. “She’s played tremendous,” McEntee said. “She’s really come up big when we’ve needed her. She’s been very vocal and taking charge of the defense. I think the experience from last year has helped her confidence level.”

Junior Alexandra McNicholas, who was clutch in the postseason last fall when the Lady Cyclones captured Nassau and Long Island crowns, scored off an assist from freshman Alex Chruma in the first half to beat Manhasset. McNicholas, Chruma and senior Audrey Walsh found the net and Klarides made seven saves in the win over Plainedge.

The offense was dealt a serious blow on the first day of October when junior forward Michaela Reis suffered a season-ending knee injury in a loss to Island Trees. Since then, McEntee has used McNicholas, junior Erin Sherlock and senior Maggie Modico up top. “We were all shaken up by Michaela’s injury,” McEntee said. “You hate to see anything like that happen to anyone, especially one of your own players and teammates.”

Juniors Ally Diez (three goals, six assists) and Juliana Klaum have been leading the midfield along with Chruma. “They’re a great trio,” McEntee said. “They feed off each other.”

Juniors Katherine Parker and Gabrielle Lucas work the center of the defense, with senior Carrie Whelan and juniors Annie Ford and Allison Mahoney also providing major contributions. South Side has allowed more than two goals only once in 12 games.

The Lady Cyclones will host a first-round playoff game, opponent to-be-determined, this Friday. “The playoffs are going to be wild,” McEntee said. “It’s as wide-open as it’s been in a long time.”