Baldwin poised for playoff success

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Baldwin girls’ soccer coach Darius Burton is pleased with his inexperienced team’s 7-3-1 record entering the home stretch of the regular season. But as the playoffs beckon, he believes changes are needed to improve on a first-round exit to Plainview JFK last season, after which it graduated 11 seniors. 

The Lady Bruins were scheduled to face Conference AA-II rivals Oceanside and Valley Stream Central this week before the postseason starts. Burton was encouraged by his team’s 1-0 home win on Sept. 18 against Oceanside, a perennial playoff contender that moved down from Conference AA-I this year.

That victory was part of Baldwin’s four-game winning streak in mid-September and was one of four shutouts this season. But the Lady Bruins were also held scoreless in their trio of losses.

“We have to take more pressure off of our defense and the goalkeeper and score the ball a little bit more,” Burton said.

Sophomore and first-year goalie Megan Doyle was in the net for Baldwin’s four shutouts, and has restricted opponents to one goal in four other matches. Her defensive front includes junior Nicolette Manzella, a third-year varsity starter and standout stopper, and senior captain and starting sweeper Jenna Annecchiarico, who is strong on the ball, adept at one-on-ones and scored the lone goal against Oceanside. 

Annecchiarico, who earned All-Class honors last season and accepted a Division I scholarship to play basketball at Eastern Michigan, will now move up front to start at forward the rest of the season. The move is part of Burton’s scheme to improve an offense spearheaded by Alyssa Hillien, who as a freshman and first-year player is the team’s top scorer with 9 goals. Hillien netted two goals in wins at Long Beach on Sept. 15 and a 2-2 tie at Lynbrook on Sept. 27. 

“She is ridiculously fast,” Burton said of Hillien when asked what makes her an offensive threat. “She also has a knack for taking on a defender one on one and finishing.”

Senior center midfielder Maggie Thibault, another All-Class selection and a fifth-year starter, has five goals and five assists and is the team’s best overall player and hardest worker, Burton said. 

“Maggie really just makes things happen for us,” he added. “She’s like a magician with the ball. She’s all over the place, forward, backward, left, right, and constantly moving.” 

Senior starting outside midfielder Aisling Geraghty is a four-year player and captain who has performed particularly well on defensive presses and crosses to the box. 

Burton said his team’s best overall match was a 4-1 win against Plainview JFK on Sept. 13 that featured goals from Thibault, Hillien, and a pair of midfielders, senior Yoselin Benitez and sophomore Diane Gruracocha. He was also impressed by how his team rallied from a 2-0 deficit to draw with Lynbrook.  

After they close the regular season with some adjustments, the Lady Bruins hope to begin a journey into the playoffs that extends into late October.