By Steve Siniski
The Lynbrook Owls boys varsity soccer team will count on experience to improve upon last year's 5-5-2 mark, while the girl's team will face tough challenges in a new conference.
"We have 13 of 19 guys returning to the roster," coach Brian Sundberg said of the boy's team. "But we're still trying to fit players into positions where they're most comfortable."
After losing their first game of the season 3-0 to Holy Trinity at a tournament in Mineola last week, the Owls bounced back with a 4-1 win over Valley Stream North the next day. "We woke up," Sunberg said of Lynbrook's turnaround. "We were more aggressive [against Valley Stream North]. We had the intensity and wore our
hearts on our sleeves. "We need to play with heart and do damage, we can't afford to sit down. We need to stay fired up."
Leading the Lynbrook charge this year will be senior halfback Matt DeBoe. "He's got the intensity we want," Sundberg said. "He needs to keep his head in the game and transfer his energy to his teammates."
With injuries putting a damper on the Owls early plans, Sundberg looks to DeBoe along with his four other seniors-goalie Michael Meluzio, defensemen Scott Rehnn and Kenny Rhenn and forward Jeffrey Kasgin-to carry the team.
"There's a lot of opportunity for the younger guys," Sundberg said of his roster. "It's been tough to get a read with so many injuries, so we're doing a lot of mixing and matching."
One of the early season surprises for Lynbrook has been senior forward Jordan Engel. He's in his first year with the team and started out playing defense. However, as part of the mixing and matching process, he moved to forward and scored two goals against Valley Stream North.
"We're definitely going to have some growing pains early," Sundberg said. "But it's been seven or eight years since we made the playoffs and that's our goal this year. It's definitely going to help having the experience back, because that extra year under our belts will really help."
Meanwhile, The Lynbrook Owls girls varsity soccer team kicked off its first season in Conference IV with a 1-1 tie at Farmingdale last week.
"The goaltenders for both teams made several key saves during the overtime," coach Doreen Combs said of the extra session against Farmingdale. "It was a little rough to play that overtime so early in the season."
Krislyn McMahon scored the Owls goal off of a put back by junior midfielder Erika Seery. "She's worked hard to improve her game," Combs said of Seery. "She won the ball, moved it upfield and her shot was put in by McMahon. You can really tell how hard she's [Seery] worked to improve her game from last year."
After finishing second in Conference V last year with an 8-3-1 record (10-4-1 overall), the Owls advanced one conference along with Bellmore. "The girls are excited about the jump," Combs said. "We've moved up a conference almost every year from VI-V-IV, and most of the girls have been here since their freshman year, so it's been exciting for them."
Nine seniors are back for the Owls, including their top two goal scorers, Michelle Scifo and Stephanie Ryan, and an entire defense looking to replace just one player.
"The defense will definitely be one of our strengths," Combs said. "We're looking to fill one of our outside backer spots, and we need someone who's highly condidtioned and fast. We're still jockeying some of the positions around and playing with the combinations."
Three players Combs will be counting on this year are the Owls tri-captains, Catherine Wyndham, Emily Peterson and Ryan."
"Wyndham has to be a good leader at sweeper," Combs said of her sophomore captain.
Up next for the Owls is a home game with MacArthur on Sept. 19, a team Lynbrook hasn't faced in several years. "It's a challenge for us in a tougher conference," Combs said. "There are some good challenges ahead for us, but we're still aiming to finish in the top three and stay competitive."
