Fox Lane girls soccer comes out even after three tight games

Clockwise from top left, Lily Rosenthal defends for the Foxes. Lauren Spolansky controls at midfield. Lily Rosenthal defends for the Foxes. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

By JIM MACLEAN 

One game after another the Fox Lane girls varsity soccer team battles to the final minute against a tough schedule, with just about every game decided by one goal.

That was the case once again last week as the Foxes had three tight games and came away with a win, a tie, and a loss, all three decided at the final whistle in three hard fought games.

The Foxes were enjoying a good week on the road, recording a win over Lakeland by the score of 3-2, and emerging with a 2-2 tie against Clarkstown North. Then on Saturday, Oct. 4, the Foxes hosted a Blind Brook team with a record of 8-2 coming in for homecoming weekend, and the game went down to the wire before the Foxes suffered a 2-1 loss to the Trojans.

At home against Blind Brook, the Foxes knew it would be another tough battle against one of the top teams in the section and once again they were up for the challenge. Blind Brook took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but Fox Lane answered in the second half as Amanda Mazzuca gained control around midfield and out raced everyone down the field to score a break away goal at the 22 minute mark to even it up at 1-1.

Blind Brook answered with a goal with 15 minutes left to play, and the Trojans defense held on to finish out the 2-1 victory over the Foxes.

A day earlier on Friday, Oct. 3, Fox Lane travelled to Lakeland to take on the host Hornets, and the Foxes rallied back with a strong second half performance to pull out a 3-2 victory.

Lakeland took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but Fox Lane freshman Lauren Spolansky came up with a pair of goals in the second half to put the Foxes up 2-1. Spolansky scored her first goal off an assist from Jillian Kurchack, and then just a couple minutes later Spolansky scored again off an assist from Amanda Mazzuca. Lakeland answered to tie it up at 2-2, but Amanda Mazzuca came through with the game-winning goal as the Foxes prevailed with a hard-fought one-goal victory.

Dylan New had a big game in goal for the Foxes as she registered 14 saves to help Fox Lane get the win.

Fox Lane also travelled across the Hudson River to take on Clarkstown South, and it was a tough battle down to the final whistle before the two teams settled for a 2-2 tie. The Foxes got on the scoreboard first as Kurchack scored on a free kick for a 1-0 lead in the first half, but the host Vikings answered back to tie it up at 1-1 before halftime.

Once again the Foxes took the lead as Amanda Mazzuca scored off an assist from Morgan Clinton to make it 2-1, but once again Clarkstown South responded to even the score on a penalty kick. New made nine saves in goal to keep the Foxes in the game as they settled for the tie.

Fox Lane boys rally to win 

The Fox Lane boys varsity soccer team played under the lights on Friday, Oct. 3, for homecoming weekend, and it looked like the Foxes were headed for a disappointing 1-0 loss into the final minutes. However, the Foxes came alive with two goals in the last four minutes, including the game-winning goal with 35 seconds left to play for a thrilling 2-1 victory over Port Chester.

It was Gavin Morales providing the late game heroics for the Foxes as he scored both goals. Morales scored with four minutes left to play when he headed it in off a corner kick by Fredy Contreras to tie it up at 1-1. Morales then scored the game winner off a long throw-in from Eion McIntyre as Morales beat the Port Chester goalie to the ball and knocked it home for the winner with just 35 seconds left to play.

With the win Fox Lane improved to 5-2-3 overall on the season.