By TONY BELLISSIMO
The Lady Sailors (7-4-1) held Lynbrook's Division I-bound tandem of Nicole Tufariello and Tricia Shanagan to a combined five goals in a 13-9 Conference II victory and blanked Division's Jenna Davis in a 7-7 non-league tie. Pohevitz turned aside 11 Lynbrook shots and Fayans made 15 saves against Division.
"We've been playing strong team defense that we'll look to continue in the playoffs," Oceanside coach Ken Dwyer said. "We hadn't beaten Lynbrook since 2004 and Division's a Conference I team, so these last few games were good for our confidence."
Trailing Lynbrook 7-6 at the half, the defense in front of Pohevitz clamped down. Seniors Kim Barile and Claire Malavet, sophomore Helen Fields and freshman Tina Pumo raised their level of play and limited the Lady Owls to only two second-half goals. Pumo, who worked her way into the starting lineup two weeks into the season, played a key role in keeping Tufariello in check. "Our defense is a collective effort and Tina became a starter in the fourth game and we're using her to faceguard other teams' scoring threats," Dwyer said.
Senior Jackie Hughes, who had two goals and two assists, put the Lady Sailors ahead for good with 17 minutes remaining. Senior Brianna Nash scored four times, sophomore Justine Clark added three goals, senior Sam Simon had two and juniors Kaitlynn Kelly and Meghan McCarty chipped in one apiece. "We're better offensively when we're not relying on one or two girls," Dwyer said. "We did a great job of taking what Lynbrook's defense gave us. They were aggressive and kept us out of our set offense, but we moved the ball very well to create a lot of scoring chances."
Hughes has been the offensive quarterback for three years running and will again finish as the team's assist leader. She has 19 so far to go along with 20 goals. Nash has 21 goals, Clark and Simon 18, Kelly 16 and McCarty 10, including the winner in a come-from-behind 11-10 win over Plainedge last month. "The Plainedge game was a great test," Dwyer said. "We were down 8-4 and not playing particularly well. But we've got a hardworking group of girls that doesn't quit."
The Lady Sailors, who have made back-to-back appearances in the Class A semifinals, have conference games remaining against Calhoun, Seaford and Mineola. Dwyer expects to get the No. 3 seed in the playoffs and host a quarterfinal round game on May 21. "If we win out we'll be conference champs," he said. "We're just trying to gear up for the playoffs. We'd like to take the next step after reaching the semifinals two years in a row."
Comments about this story? tbellissimo@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000, ext. 204.
