Lynbrook ready for rebound

Lynbrook knew change was in the air heading into the 2010 girls’ soccer campaign, as last year’s regular-season conference championship team graduated nine seniors. And after a 1-3 start, coach Jen Dankenbrink is doing a little more lineup shuffling to put the Lady Owls in a better position for a big rebound.

Junior midfielder Megan Lolacono, who scored Lynbrook’s first goal of the season in a 1-0 win over Glen Cove on Sept. 21, is moving to defense, and her former running mate in the middle, junior co-captain Sami Greenberg, has taken over the sweeper role. Senior co-captain and stopper Julie Wigand, senior Nicole Punzi, and sophomore Rose Paskoff, among the team’s fastest players, are joined by sophomore Olivia Cohn to round out the defense. “The girls going back are good soccer players,” Dankenbrink said, noting an expected quick transition to the switches. “They’re fast and have good ball control.”

Senior goalkeeper Corinne Zee returned after missing all of her junior campaign because of injury and stopped 16 shots in both a 3-1 loss to Floral Park on Sept. 25 and a 3-0 defeat to Manhasset two days earlier. The vocal leader is fearless in net, and continues to display her range with long-reaching, diving stops.

A move back by junior Carrie Feltcamp from forward to center-midfield could be exactly what the offense needs to keep moving forward. She saw her first game action at the new position in the second half against Floral Park and almost immediately scored a goal. The long-term hope is for Feltcamp to also jumpstart the rest of the offense with her crisp passing skills. Senior co-captain Mariel Messilaty takes the field alongside Feltcamp, and is a perfect complement because of her ability to control the ball and extend possessions. Juniors Danielle Amaya, Maggie Moran, Gabby Patitucci and Lauren Sobel, sophomore Katie Loonie and freshman Aine Monney are contributors on the outside.

The midfield are looking to a pair of first-year varsity forwards—sophomore Chani Sebazco and freshman Meghan Montine—who may not be the biggest players on the field but easily rank among the fastest, and senior Erin Gallagher for goal-scoring production.

With Nassau County changing the soccer conference alignment from ability-based to enrollment, the Lady Owls are not only new to Conference VI but also squaring off against an entire schedule full of new opponents. They close out a home-and-home series by hosting Valley Stream South this Saturday at 5:45 p.m.