From nearly start to finish, the goalkeeper for the undefeated Locust Valley boys’ soccer team implored his squad to wake up and go on the attack. But with 2:02 left to play, it was Friends Academy junior Jack Steinberg who must have felt like he was dreaming.
After being shadowed and double-teamed all game, Jack slipped down the middle of the field unmarked by a defender and gathered a brilliant through pass to find himself one-on-one with the goalie.
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As the keeper charged forward to cut down the angles, Jack put one touch on the ball near the penalty spot — a nifty flick with his right foot that squirted the ball through the goalie’s legs to give the Quakers a 1-0 lead that wouldn’t be threatened over the final minutes of the semifinal matchup at Farmingdale State College.
“We were trying to get through their defense all game, and that tap was all that we needed,” says Jack (pictured above), who celebrated by sprinting toward a very-much-awake Friends Academy cheering section in the grandstands. “It was a great pass. I had that space and I just ran into it. I knew I needed to be quick, and I got the job done.”
The 1-0 victory over top-seeded Locust Valley catapulted the fourth-seeded Quakers into the Section VIII Class A championship game against No. 2 Floral Park.
Friends Academy will vie for the Nassau County title on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 4 p.m. at Farmingdale State College.
It’s the next step in something of a dream season for the Quakers.
Friends Academy won its first conference championship this fall in 11 years, and it advanced to Sunday’s semifinal against Locust Valley with a 2-1 victory against North Shore in an overtime thriller last Thursday.
Even though they’ll be the underdogs again when they take the pitch against Floral Park in the finals, Quakers coach Edgar Posada believes his squad’s potential extends beyond Nassau County and Long Island.
“It’s about this,” he said in a postgame interview, raising his right hand to reveal a red-gem ring glinting in the afternoon sun.
It was the ring the Quakers won for capturing their last state championship in 2013, which he made sure to wear as part of his red-and-black ensemble on Sunday afternoon.
“This is a special squad. This is one of the most talented teams we’ve had in a decade,” Coach Posada says. “The coaches have been telling them for a while now how talented they are and what they’re capable of, and they’re finally starting to believe it.”
Photos by Matt Gagne / Friends Academy
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