Saturday, November 8, 2025
Long Beach was a Cinderella story in last year’s Nassau Class AA boys’ soccer playoffs, reaching the semifinal stage following a thrilling penalty kick win over Great Neck North and a stunning upset of South Side.
The Marines were hoping for more October magic this fall but were denied by Hewlett in another wild shootout following 110 minutes of a 1-1 stalemate Oct. 18. The No. 12 Bulldogs advanced with an 8-7 edge in penalty kicks as sophomore Sebastian Mendoza-Reyes netted the eventual winner following a save by senior Matthew Fridburg on what would be Long Beach’s final shooter.
“It was definitely the craziest game I’ve been a part of and the longest PKs I’ve ever been a part of,” Hewlett coach Jesse Corben said. “It was really exciting. I felt we had more opportunities than they did before we went to PKs. Long Beach has two really strong players up front. They caught us on a quick counter attack for their only goal.”
The Marines (6-3-6) struck first midway through the first half on a goal by Ryder Heitefuss. The Bulldogs (8-7-1) tied it 10 minutes later when senior Brandon Fridburg, their leading scorer with more than 20 points, found a loose ball off a corner kick by junior Eden Glazer and knocked it home.
The second half and both 15-minute golden goal overtime periods were scoreless. Long Beach had a couple of corner kicks in OT but couldn’t cash in.
“It was a hot day and both teams were running out of gas,” Corben said. “You could see it in all the kids’ faces but they just kept battling. Both teams deserve a lot of credit. These kids are used to playing at 5 p.m. This was a 1 o’clock start on a warm day on the turf.”
Hewlett didn’t miss any of its eight PKs. Both goalkeepers, Matthew Fridburg and Long Beach senior Jayden Zarco, were chosen as the fourth shooters by their respective coaches and scored against each other. Zarco scored the decisive PK in the playoff win over Great Neck North a year ago.
In addition to Zarco, Heitefuss, Nick Amantea, Gavin O’Grady, Braeden Konop, Hector Melgar and Logan Jennings scored in PKs for the Marines.
“We really competed all season,” Long Beach coach Leo Palacio said. “With the PKs, it’s great when you win and tough when you lose. We’ve been on both sides. It was a hard-fought game and our kids have nothing to be ashamed about. I think the difference was Hewlett’s home-field advantage.”
The Bulldogs were battle-tested by conference rivals Garden City, Manhasset and South Side but there is no OT or PKs during the regular season.
“I knew who was going to kick for us if it went as far as nine,” Corben explained. “If it went beyond that, I would’ve had to figure it out on the fly. Fortunately we only needed eight.”
Aside from Mendoza-Reyes, every Hewlett shooter who delivered in PKs is a senior: Yeriel Miller, both Fridburgs, Raz Vaknine, Kfir Halfon, Anthony Melnick and Lucas Munoz.
