Southampton Girls Soccer Falls To Center Moriches In County Semifinal

Going into its Class B semifinal game with Center Moriches on Monday night, the Southampton girls soccer team knew there was one scenario they needed to avoid — allowing the Red Devils’ scoring chances off set pieces.

With the game tied at 1-1 with 16:30 left, the referee blew the whistle, awarding a direct kick to Center Moriches, and Southampton’s fears were realized when Olivia Dench placed her shot from 25 yards out just above the outstretched hands of Mariners goalie Amy Jimenez, giving her team a lead it would not relinquish to hand the second-seeded Mariners a tough defeat in what was their first ever home playoff game.

Center Moriches will face top seed Babylon for the county title on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Shoreham-Wading River High School.

Southampton had several quality chances to net an equalizer in the final 15 minutes. Senior Carli Cameron — who recently committed to Gettysburg College — nearly scored on a direct kick with 15:20 left, and in the final 3:30, senior Ellie Avallone had two one-on-goalie breakaways, but was unable to finish.

The Mariners struck first in the game, when Taylor Zukosky scored off an assist from Cameron less than a minute in. Southampton clung to that lead at halftime, and for a good portion of the second half, until Delaney Kleinman scored during a scramble for the ball inside the box with 26:11 left to play, a chance that was initiated by a corner.

Losing in the playoffs is never fun, but the loss was particularly tough for the Mariners for several reasons. It marked their fourth-straight year advancing to the playoffs, largely on the strength of a senior class that includes 12 players for whom Monday night’s game in front of a large and energetic home crowd was the last of their high school careers. Southampton defeated Center Moriches, 1-0, at Center Moriches’s homecoming during their only meeting in the regular season, so the Mariners knew they could beat them. They had the early lead, too, and then watched the game slip out of their hands with a goal that was very similar to the game-winner Center Moriches scored in last year’s Class B semifinal game, when the Red Devils were the second seed and hosted Southampton.

Head coach Sean Zay said he was not disappointed with the way his team performed, but admitted it was tough to go out the way they did. Both he and assistant coaches Davin Johnson and Christine Fagering spent time after the final whistle consoling their players, most of whom were in tears on the sideline.

“I thought they played awesome,” he said. “Set pieces and corners are the things that Center does really well, and they don’t really put shots on net. We handled them the entire game, we just have to keep them from getting set pieces and corners, and that’s what got us.”

The Mariners ended the regular season on a hot streak, winning seven straight games in their division to earn the second seed, which gave them a home playoff game for the first time in program history.

“It’s just heartbreaking,” Zay said of the playoff loss. “I’ve worked with these seniors since they were in seventh grade, so I’ve known them forever. It’s going to be weird showing up next summer not having them there.”

That group of seniors had made it clear over the past few years that they would not be satisfied with anything less than a county title, and they had good reason to make that their goal. Most of the players on the team are committed to soccer year round, playing on what was the first girls academy team for the Southampton Town United soccer club. Stronger commitment to the sport through participating on the club teams has been one reason why the varsity team has had a winning record in recent years, as opposed to years before that, when, more often than not, the team had a losing record. Zay said that when the disappointment of the playoff loss wears off, his players should think about the precedent they set for the high school program.

“The legacy of those girls will be the hard work they put in in practice and the attitude they sent to the younger girls,” Zay said. “That’s what makes them special.”

He pointed out the number of younger girls dotted along the sidelines at the game as ball runners, and the effect that watching the varsity team compete at a high level against the backdrop of a big home crowd would have on them.

“Those ball girls were so excited to be here, and that really sets the tone,” he said. “It’s big for what happens in the future. I told the girls, no matter what, you’ve laid that foundation. It’s just a tough way to go out.”