Varsity Girls Soccer fell to Lynbrook High School with a score of 3-2 on Thursday, Jan. 23, bringing their overall season record to 5-9. The Matadors started strong with an early goal scored by freshman and outside back Marissa Chang. According to sophomore and attacking midfielder Isobel Schweigert, Chang’s goal came from her aggressive gameplay, where she dribbled the ball across LHS’ defense to score. The first half of the game ended 1-1, with LHS making a goal near the end.
“In the first half, we were definitely more offensively dominant, and we had the ball,” Schweigert said. “We were creating good opportunities, passing and crossing across the box. We just weren’t able to finish a goal.”
The Matadors continued their momentum in the second half, scoring another goal. However, LHS quickly equalized due to the weakened Matador defense. As the end of the second half approached, Schweigert and the rest of the team assumed the game would end in a tie. But with only a couple of minutes left on the clock, LHS made the last goal of the game, breaking the tie and ending the game 3-2.
“It was only until the last minute or two of the game and there wasn’t much time left to score,” Schweigert said. “So at that point, everyone’s pretty frustrated and tired and we all just felt down.”
In conjunction with the team’s exhaustion, freshman and right back Emy Denina notes that the team lacked strong communication, especially when Lynbrook dribbled toward their goal. She also believes that the Matadors lacked attentiveness and awareness toward each other’s comments. Schweigert adds that the team attempted a strategy to push the opposing team offsides, but the referees weren’t calling properly, forcing the team to reconsider.
“It was a close game,” Schweigert said. “Towards the end of each half, we were just fatigued and everyone was running out of energy. We couldn’t keep them from scoring in the last five minutes of each half.”
Schweigert also adds that many team members were either injured or sick, putting the Matadors at a disadvantage. She hopes that these players can recover, and when the team plays LHS again, everyone can be out on the field. With another opportunity to play LHS on Feb. 13, Denina also hopes for a victory in the future.
“In one of the previous games we played against Saratoga, we were able to keep a really strong defense, and we were able to keep them from making a lot of slips and getting past our defense,” Denina said. “So we hope that in our Senior Night game against Lynbrook, we’re able to replicate that and keep our defense strong and make sure that we communicate in not allowing them to get past our defense.”