John Jay nets homecoming victory over Fox Lane

John Jay mobs senior captain Audrey Oestreicher (14) after she scored what proved to be the game-winning goal in 1-0 victory over Fox Lane. Photo by Jim MacLean. 

Above, Natalie Mazzucca of Fox Lane stops Carly Mangiaracina of John Jay. Below, Fox Lane goalie Dylan New makes diving save. Photos by Jim MacLean

By JIM MACLEAN 

The two teams had squared off about two weeks ago in a wild offensive explosion, but this time it was a nail-biter down to the wire as John Jay hosted Fox Lane in girls varsity soccer in front of the homecoming crowd for the Wolves.

John Jay controlled possession all game long and kept the pressure on, but it was still a scoreless tie late into the second half. The Wolves were pressing trying to get that first goal. At one point, John Jay had four-straight corner kicks in succession, but nothing was getting past Fox Lane goalie Dylan New.

Until finally, John Jay senior captain Audrey Oestreicher lined up to take a direct kick outside the box. Oestreicher lifted a perfect shot on goal up in the corner that New got a hand on but couldn’t stop from going in to give John Jay a 1-0 lead with 13 minutes left to play, and the Wolves defense held on for the shutout victory.

“Definitely, senior year homecoming, a big game for us and we all really wanted it bad,” Oestreicher admitted. “I just took a deep breath, coach always says to stay composed, I just tried to get it on goal and it went in and that definitely hyped us up. Our midfield and offense did a great job keeping it in their third of the field the entire game and we just needed to get that goal.”

With the win John Jay remained undefeated as the Wolves improved to 6-0-2 overall on the season.

It certainly wasn’t easy as the Wolves controlled the ball and kept it in the Fox Lane end for most of the game, but that one goal proved to be elusive. And the Wolves knew from the previous game, a 6-4 win on the road for John Jay, that the Foxes were capable of striking fast on offense with a counter attack.

“A bit frustrating, we had the ball around the box a lot, a lot of chances, a lot of good saves from their keeper, but you have to find a way to win as a team and today we found that way,” said John Jay coach Dave Nuttall. “We knew their strength from the last game and where they are dangerous, so we adjusted our defense and game plan. It’s progress, that’s the main thing, a win is a win, and we like to stay under the radar and take it one game at a time.”

A big reason John Jay was frustrated was the play of New in goal for Fox Lane. In her first season as a goalie, New continues to make the stops for the Foxes and she came up with 12 big saves to keep the Foxes in the game until the end.

“She just started playing goalie in August,” Fox Lane coach Fabian Videla said of New. “We needed a goalie and she said I’ll try it and she’s been amazing. We’re in every game mostly because of our defense and because of Dylan. That free kick was a good shot and Dylan got her hand on it, she kept us in the game.”

John Jay controlled possession throughout the game, especially in the first 20 minutes of the second half as the Wolves pressed for a goal. The Foxes were hoping for a chance at the other end, but John Jay marked forward Amanda Mazzucca throughout the game with Oestreicher and Mykal Papa leading the Wolves defense and goalie Brooke Epstein came up with one big save on a breakaway for Mazzucca to record the shut out victory.

“They’re a solid team top to bottom, they bring waves of players in and keep going forward, but we made them earn it and stayed in the game,” Videla said of John Jay. “Giving up one goal to that team is a pretty good game defensively for us. We continue to fight to the end and that’s important.”