By Marc Raimondi
Zoe Margulies saw the effect of her 56th-minute strike almost immediately.
“Once we got that goal, Cardozo gave up all hope,” Bayside's senior midfielder said. “They started moving slower with the ball; everything was going slower at that point.”
The second game of the year between the two neighborhood rivals looked to be another tight one – the game was tied at 1 until Margulies' brilliant strike from 25 yards over the head of Cardozo goalkeeper Samantha Begonja. But after that, the Judges looked lethargic. Bayside junior forward Despina Psomopoulos scored twice late due to defensive breakdowns and the Commodores went on to roll, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon at Cardozo in a Queens A-V contest.
Margulies was playing despite suffering from food poisoning after eating some bad McDonald's on Tuesday evening. But it was her play that changed the tide of the game – and perhaps the temperature of the season. Cardozo was confident after outplaying Bayside in a 1-0 loss April 4.
“It was a perfectly placed goal,” Bayside coach Joe Corrado said. “It totally deflated [the Judges].”
Begonja came off her line too early on Margulies' goal, but it was her defenders that let the game get out of hand.
After netting the game's first goal in the 12th minute, Psomopoulos scored once in the 62nd minute and again in the 75th to complete the hat trick. On both late goals, the two-time TimesLedger All-Queens PSAL girls' soccer Player of the Year was almost untouched.
“We had three defensive errors,” said Cardozo senior midfielder Francesca Shin, who cried after the teams' first meeting, but was more subdued after this one. “That's what cost us the game.”
Bayside (6-0), which became the first Queens team to reach the PSAL Class A girls' soccer city title game since 1986 last year, has not lost to Cardozo (5-2) since May 8, 2003 and the Commodores have not been defeated in a league game since May 9, 2005 against Francis Lewis. The Judges will get another chance to break both those streaks May 5 when the rivals meet for the third time this season
“Hopefully, in the third game we'll prove we can win,” Shin said.
After the first game, Corrado said his players' performance was “gritty.” This one, he said, was considerably better than that and a good sign for the rest of the season.
“I think we're stronger now,” Corrado said, “than we have been all season.”
Reach Associate Sports Editor Marc Raimondi by e-mail at mraimondi@timesledger.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 130.
