Thursday, October 1, 2026
Lynbrook boys soccer has developed a couple of early trends, and both were on display in its 3-2 defeat to visiting Plainedge Tuesday afternoon.
The Owls yielded an early goal for a third straight Conference A match — this time 38 seconds into the action when Red Devils outside fullback Thomas Sideridis one-timed a pass from Conor Sinclair — and fought back twice from a two-goal deficit to show the grit longtime coach Josh Berlin believes can give them a shot in every game.
“We didn’t return any full-time starters, so we’re a work in progress,” Berlin said. “For whatever reason, it has taken us a little while to get ourselves together in games. We’re not starting the way we need to our should. I do like the way we’re never putting our heads down and keep battling.”
Dominick Gulino and Aiden McNee added goals for the Red Devils, who broke into the win column for the first time in 2026. Jose Yapan Gonzales and Nikolai Lyubomirskiv found the back of the net for the Owls.
Both teams entered the contest 0-1-1 in Conference A.
“It feels good to get the win,” said Sideridis, who scored his first career varsity goal to set the tone after Plainedge came within inches of scoring 10 seconds in. “I love chippy games like that,” he added. “Both teams got after it.”
Both goaltenders were spectacular. Lynbrook sophomore Matthew Ambery made 11 saves and Plainedge junior Brandon Clifford made 10 stops.
“Both teams played hard,” Plainedge coach Jason Cinelli said. “We’re a young team that’s finding its way. We brought up four freshmen when we usually have one or none. We’re hoping to pull some more close games out like this to get to .500 and make the playoffs.”
Similar to the Lynbrook, Plainedge boasts little varsity experience after losing two players to MLS-1 club pipeline and two others to injury. Cinelli said the team will lean heavily on captain Niko Dimakopoukos at center-midfield, Gulino, a sophomore striker who scored 6 goals last season, and Clifford to lead the playoff push.
“Brandon played three games in goal for us last year and now he’s our full-time guy, and he’s been a bright spot,” Cinelli said. “He’s been playing out of his mind. Our defense is completely new, so that’s going to take a little time to get to where we want to be.”
Plainedge took a 2-0 lead in the 15th minute when Gulino dribbled a shot from inside the box through traffic. Gonzales kept the lead from swelling with a dynamic save behind Ambery and then cut the margin in half with a goal late in the first half.
McNee and Lyubomirskiv traded penalty kick goals in the second half, with the latter getting the Owls back within a goal with 15:09 remaining. The hosts kept pressing but couldn’t get the equalizer.
“We turned the corner a little bit today,” Berlin said. “We just need to be more impactful at the start of games.”
