It took the top-ranked soccer team in New York City – and it took penalty kicks – to stop the girls of Francis Lewis from making the city finals.
They fell 2-1 to Beacon on Thursday, June 4, in a closely-contested game that was scoreless until 2:30 was left in regulation.
That’s when Karin Backert put a deflected Laura Marmolejo shot into the back of the net, giving Lewis a very strong chance to win the semifinal.
But the Patriots have had problems in the final minutes, as their quarterfinal win over Canarsie testified. On Thursday, it only took about 30 seconds for Beacon’s Alex Easton – off a long ball and a deflection – to even the score at 1. Her team won in penalty kicks, 3-2.
While Beacon primed itself for the final match-up against McKee Vocational on Tuesday, June 9, Lewis was assessing the damage. Looking back, the Patriots saw a season with its fair share of drama, from an eked-out regular season championship over Bayside and Benjamin Cardozo to an alternatively joyous and wrenching win in the city quarterfinals.
That game, on Tuesday, June 2, saw Lewis hold onto a 1-0 lead for dear life. Marmolejo had scored early in the second half, but the Patriots were largely unlucky otherwise. A Canarsie free kick in the final minutes deflected off the crossbar; only after Gena Koutsounadis’ late goal did the Patriots breathe easy.
“You definitely know that they’re going to get one or two opportunities [to score],” head coach Roger Sarmuksnis said. “You need to get just one opportunity – that’s all it takes in soccer.”
Looking forward, the Patriots see hope. A number of their stars are not only young, but freshmen. They include Backert, a defender/midfielder, and Koutsounadis, a midfielder/forward. While midfielder Ingrid Diosa is in her final season, forward Marmolejo has one more left.
Could the Patriots be on the verge of something special – a new entrant to the “Big Two” designation sometimes accorded to Bayside and Cardozo?
Sarmuksnis’ answer was direct: “I feel sorry for Bayside and Cardozo for the next couple of years,” he said.
